Mirza Fakhrul to fill one post by vacating three

The ruling BNP has nominated Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as its candidate for Bangladesh's President.

After the resignation of Md. Shahabuddin, although Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed took charge of Bangabhaban, the position of the country's President remained practically vacant. An election is being held to fill that vacant post.

Veteran politician Mirza Fakhrul is currently serving as the Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives in the present BNP government. He represents the Thakurgaon-1 constituency in Parliament. Additionally, he also holds the responsibility of the BNP Secretary-General.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam greets BNP chairman Tarique Rahman when he was elected an MP in the parliamentary polls in February. Collected photo.

Although voting will take place as the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance has put forward a candidate for the presidency, given the BNP's absolute majority in Parliament, there appears to be no significant obstacle to Mirza Fakhrul being elected President.
Consequently, upon being sworn in as President, he will have to resign from three posts in accordance with the Constitution. This will create a vacancy for the Minister of Local Government in the government, a vacancy for the Thakurgaon-1 seat in Parliament, and a vacancy for the Secretary-General position within the BNP.

The BNP's highest policy-making forum, the National Standing Committee, decided on Wednesday itself to make Mirza Fakhrul the party's candidate for the presidency. Immediately after the meeting, chaired by BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, party leaders submitted the nomination papers on behalf of Mirza Fakhrul to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Officer for the presidential election, A M M Nasir Uddin.

Earlier, leaders of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance had submitted nomination papers for their coalition's presidential candidate, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Chairman Oli Ahmed.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as a Parliamentarian. Collected photo.
However, after the nomination papers were filed on behalf of Mirza Fakhrul, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni told journalists that they are optimistic about the BNP candidate's victory.

According to the Constitution, the President is elected by a vote of the Members of Parliament. According to the announced schedule, this vote will take place during a session of the National Parliament on August 20, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

In the 13th Parliament, the BNP has a total of 247 MPs. Apart from these, their allied parties include 1 MP from the BJP (Bangladesh Jatiya Party), 1 from the Ganashakti Andolan, 1 from the Ganadhikar Parishad, and 1 from JAGPA.
File photo.
In contrast, the opposition has 77 MPs from Jamaat-e-Islami. Their allied parties include 8 MPs from the National Citizens' Party (NCP), 3 from Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, and 1 from Khilafat Majlis.

Who will be the Local Government Minister?

In Bangladesh, it is commonly observed that the Secretary-General or General Secretary of a party holds the portfolio of Local Government Minister. In the 1991 BNP government, the Local Government Minister was party Secretary-General Abdul Salam Talukder. Similarly, in Khaleda Zia's 2001 government, the Local Government Minister was Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, who was also the party's Secretary-General. This time, after Tarique Rahman formed the new government on February 17, the party Secretary-General, Mirza Fakhrul, was given the responsibility of the Local Government Minister.
According to the Constitution of Bangladesh, the President is the head of state. As such, he cannot hold any position in the government. Therefore, if Mirza Fakhrul becomes President, he will have to resign from his ministerial duties.
Mirza Fakhrul is submitting his resignation from the post of party secretary general. Collected photo.

In that case, discussions have already begun regarding who will be the new Local Government Minister. Several media outlets have reported that the current Home Minister, Salahuddin Ahmed, is being given this responsibility. Meanwhile, Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie is said to be taking over the Home Ministry. However, no official announcement from the government had been made as of this evening.

Thakurgaon-1 seat falls vacant

Mirza Fakhrul, who left government service to enter politics, first became a Member of Parliament from his home constituency, Thakurgaon-1, in the election held on February 15, 1996. Later, in 2001, he was re-elected from the same constituency and, during that time, served as a Deputy Minister in the four-party alliance government.

After losing in the 2008 election, he also lost the Thakurgaon-1 seat in the controversial 2018 election. However, in 2018, he was elected MP from the Bogura-6 constituency. But alleging vote rigging across the country, he did not take oath as an MP.

According to the Constitution, upon assuming the office of the head of state, Mirza Fakhrul's membership in the legislature will automatically be cancelled. In the past, Abdur Rahman Biswas, Zillur Rahman, and Md. Abdul Hamid had all resigned from parliamentary membership before becoming President.

Once Mirza Fakhrul resigns, the Thakurgaon-1 seat will be declared vacant, and the Election Commission will announce a schedule for a by-election.

Since 1996, Mirza Fakhrul had consistently been the BNP candidate in this constituency. As a result, the BNP will now have to choose a new candidate.

A new face for the Secretary-General post as well

Mirza Fakhrul, a former president of the Krishak Dal was elected Senior Joint Secretary-General of the BNP in the party council in 2009. When the elected Secretary-General Khondaker Delwar Hossain passed away, he became the acting Secretary-General in 2011. In the 2016 party council, he was elected Secretary-General of the BNP.

Since the head of state cannot perform any party duties under the Constitution, Mirza Fakhrul must also relinquish the BNP Secretary-General position. He has already submitted his resignation, according to BSS.

Currently, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi is the Senior Joint Secretary-General of the BNP. Generally, in the absence of the Secretary-General, he is expected to take on the responsibilities of acting Secretary-General.