Bangladesh to hold presidential election on August 20: EC

Bangladesh’s presidential election will be held on August 20, the Election Commission announced on Thursday, two weeks after President Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned on health grounds before completing his five-year term.

Shahabuddin, 76, was a longtime ally of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. “Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin has finalised the dates in consultation with (acting parliamentary) Speaker Kayser Kamal,” the Election Commission’s senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters.

In line with the Constitution, the parliament members elect the president, but the EC conducts the procedure to elect the head of State.

Announcing the election schedule, Election Commission Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said that voting will be held on August 20 from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm at the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) session hall.

Nomination papers will be accepted at the office of the Chief Election Commissioner on August 13.

The scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on August 16. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is August 18. The lawmakers would cast votes to elect the new president inside Parliament on August 20. However, no voting will be held in case of a consensus candidate.

According to the State-run BSS news agency, Ahmed told journalists that the announcement for the presidential election schedule was made after discussions with Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, who is serving as Acting President for 90 days in accordance with the Constitution. A new President must be elected within a 90-day timeframe.

Ahmed said that the voter list for the election has been prepared and other remaining administrative procedures will be completed before the election.

Shahabuddin, a 1971 Liberation War veteran and former lower judiciary judge, had taken the oath in April 2023 for a five-year term.

He cited health complications as the reason for his resignation; however, it came amid speculations that Prime Minister Rahman’s government was uncomfortable with the largely titular head of state.

Some reports had claimed that Shahabuddin contacted Hasina over the phone, disappointing the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s top leadership. The former president had dismissed the reports as “baseless.” He was elected to the highest office by the previous parliament and was the only person still holding his constitutional position, long after the violent July-August 2024 student-led street protest that toppled Hasina’s Awami League Government.

Hasina fled to India and has been living there since August 5, 2024.