Members of parliament from the ruling BNP have held a meeting ahead of the presidential election vote. The meeting of BNP’s parliamentary party began at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 19, on the ninth floor of the National Parliament building, chaired by Leader of the House and Prime Minister Tareque Rahman.
The prime minister’s deputy press secretary, Zahidul Islam Rony, disclosed the information. BNP’s presidential candidate, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, was also present at the parliamentary party meeting.
Voting for the 23rd presidential election will begin at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, August 20, in the parliament’s session chamber and continue until 5:00 p.m.
This marks the first time in 35 years that a presidential election will require a vote, since more than one candidate is contesting.
BNP Secretary General and Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is the candidate nominated by BNP and its allied parties in this presidential election.
The other candidate is retired Colonel Oli Ahmed, nominated by the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance.
The presidential election has a total of 349 eligible voters, all members of parliament.
The last time a vote was held for the presidency in the parliament’s session chamber was on October 8, 1991. At the time, BNP’s candidate was Abdur Rahman Biswas, and the Awami League’s (now banned) candidate was Badrul Haider Chowdhury.
In that 11th presidential election, Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated the Awami League’s Badrul Haider Chowdhury by 92 votes to become the 11th president. Biswas received 172 votes.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report