Deadline for presidential nominations today as BNP set to announce candidate

Today, Thursday (August 13), is the deadline for submitting nomination papers for the presidential election.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to hold a meeting with senior government ministers and senior BNP leaders at the Secretariat at around 12:30pm today. The BNP is expected to announce its nominee for the presidency following the meeting.

According to party sources, the BNP plans to submit its presidential candidate’s nomination paper to the Election Commission (EC) at around 1pm.

A BNP source said the meeting at the Secretariat would not be treated as a formal meeting of the party’s Standing Committee to avoid procedural controversy.

However, the party’s decision regarding its presidential candidate has reportedly already been finalised. The BNP’s policymaking forum, the National Standing Committee, had unanimously authorised the party chairman to make the final nomination decision.

The meeting has primarily been arranged to complete the formalities required for the nomination, including obtaining signatures from a proposer and a seconder, according to party leaders familiar with the matter.

One senior BNP leader will reportedly act as the proposer, while another will second the nomination.

The name of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been widely discussed as the party’s likely presidential candidate. However, the BNP had not officially confirmed his nomination as of Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami has already announced Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Oli Ahmed as its candidate for the presidency.

The Election Commission will begin the subsequent stages of the presidential election process after the nomination submission deadline expires.