CEC explains why the world is watching Bangladesh’s presidential election

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) A M M Nasir Uddin has described the presidential election as historic. He said, “The world is watching Bangladesh’s presidential election. Voting for the country’s new president will take place tomorrow, Thursday. All necessary preparations for the election have been completed.”

He made the remarks while speaking about the overall preparations for the election at his office at the Election Commission building in Agargaon on Wednesday.

Asked why the world is so interested in Bangladesh’s presidential election, the CEC said, “The 2024 mass uprising and the resignation of the president before the end of his term have increased interest in this election. Bangladesh witnessed a mass uprising in 2024. You saw that a president resigned before the end of his term. As a result, everyone is now interested in who will become the president. If he had left office after completing his normal term, perhaps there would not have been so much interest among the people.”

The CEC said the election is being conducted in accordance with the Presidential Election Act, 1991 and the Presidential Election Rules. He said, “As Parliament is not in session, a special sitting has been called for the presidential election. Normally, the president calls a session of Parliament. But if the presidential election takes place at a time when Parliament is not in session, the CEC will call this sitting.”

He said a gazette was published on the matter on August 11, providing more than the minimum seven days stipulated by law. The election schedule was announced on August 6. Nominations were submitted on August 13 and scrutinized on August 16. August 18 was the final date for withdrawing nominations. No one withdrew their nomination.

A total of three nomination papers were submitted for the election. Two were submitted on behalf of the 11-party alliance and one on behalf of the BNP. BNP candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Oli Ahmed Bir Bikram have been nominated by the 11-party alliance.

Speaking about the scrutiny of nomination papers, he said, “The signatures of the proposers and seconders were verified with the assistance of the Parliament Secretariat. The signatures were compared with those in the register that members of Parliament signed when they took their oaths. As everything was found to be in order, all three nomination papers were declared valid. All three, two from the 11-party alliance and one from the BNP, were considered valid nomination papers. However, if two nomination papers are submitted in favor of the same candidate, there is no need for the second one if one is valid.”

The CEC said there are a total of 349 voters in the presidential election. Under Article 48(1) of the Constitution, members of Parliament are the voters in the presidential election. Voting will take place on August 20 from 2 pm to 5 pm.

Saying that he himself will conduct the entire election as the election officer, he said, “Before announcing the election schedule, there is a legal obligation to consult the speaker. The law states that the election officer, the CEC, will determine the date after discussing and consulting with the speaker. I met with the speaker and held detailed discussions. Members of our commission and other commissioners, our senior secretary and relevant officials also held detailed discussions with him. We announced the election schedule with his consent and advice.”

The CEC said the votes will be counted after polling and the result will be announced on the same day. He said, “The total number of ballots we printed, how many were used, how many remained unused, how many were rejected, and how many votes each candidate received among the used ballots will all be announced in detail. The candidate who receives a majority of the votes will be declared the winner and his name will be announced. That will mark the completion of the entire process.”