Voting for the presidential election is set to take place this Thursday, marking the first time in 35 years that multiple candidates are contesting for the office.
The ballot will be held from 2pm to 5pm at Parliament, with the newly elected president scheduled to be sworn in at Bangabhaban at 7:30pm on Friday.
Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni shared these details during a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon following a meeting of BNP parliamentary party. He stated that the proceedings would mark a “historic moment” and a “new journey for democracy.”
The Election Commission and Parliament have jointly decided to live telecast the voting process starting five minutes before it begins.
The broadcast will specifically feature the casting of votes by the president, speaker, prime minister, leader of the opposition, and presidential candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Following these specific highlights, the rest of the voting process will be recorded. The live telecast will resume five minutes before the voting ends to broadcast the announcement of the results.
The chief whip confirmed that the new president will take their oath at Bangabhaban at 7:30pm this Friday. He noted that a new journey would begin under the leadership of party Chairman Tarique Rahman.
Contest between two candidates
The presidential race features Oli Ahmed and Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
“The people of this country will again witness how votes are cast,” the chief whip said, expressing confidence that a new President would be successfully elected.
The briefing was attended by Whips Ruhul Kuddus Talukdar Dulu, Miah Nuruddin Ahmed Apu, ABM Ashraf Uddin Nizan, and GK Gouse, alongside MP Amirul Islam Alim, Khondaker Abu Ashfaq, and the Prime Minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Zahidul Islam Rony.
BNP parliamentary party meeting
The BNP parliamentary party held its meeting at 4pm on Wednesday on the 9th floor of the National Parliament Building. Chaired by the Leader of the House and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the meeting was also attended by presidential candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Mirza Fakhrul, the BNP secretary general and the minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, is the nominee for the BNP and its like-minded parties. His opponent, retired Colonel Oli Ahmed, is representing an 11-party alliance including Jamaat.
A total of 349 lawmakers are eligible to vote.
The last time a presidential election involved a ballot in the parliamentary chamber was on 8 October 1991. In that 11th presidential election, the BNP’s candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated the Awami League’s Badruddoza Hayder Chowdhury.
Biswas secured 172 votes, while Chowdhury received 92 votes.
