Bangladesh Presidential election on August 20 following Shahabuddin's resignation
Nominations for Bangladesh's next president open on August 13, with lawmakers set to elect a new head of state after Shahabuddin stepped down
Dhaka, Aug 6 (PTI) Bangladesh's presidential election will be held on August 20, the country's Election Commission announced on Thursday.
The presidential elections were necessitated after Mohammed Shahabuddin, a longtime ally of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned from the post on July 24, two years ahead of the end of his tenure.
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.
According to the schedule, nomination papers must be submitted at the office of the Chief Election Commissioner between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm on August 13. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be held from 10:00 am on August 16.
The last date for withdrawal of candidature is 4:00 pm on August 18.
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.
Ahmed added 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 Tarique 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. PTI