Chief Whip of the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Md Nurul Islam Moni on Tuesday said Article 70 of the Constitution will remain effective during the upcoming presidential election, meaning any lawmaker who votes against their party’s decision will lose parliamentary membership. 

He made the remarks while speaking to journalists after a meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban involving parliamentary representatives of the ruling and opposition parties, officials of the Election Commission (EC) and the Parliament Secretariat.

The meeting discussed preparations for the presidential election scheduled for August 20.

Nurul said the presidential election will be held on August 20, with voting scheduled from 2pm to 5pm at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. The deadline for withdrawing candidature is the night of August 18, following the submission and scrutiny of nomination papers. 

“The ruling party’s presidential candidate has not yet been finalised. The Prime Minister will nominate the candidate, and the name will be announced on the day of submission of the nomination paper,” he says.

He said the meeting discusses measures to ensure a free, fair and transparent election.

According to the decisions taken at the meeting, MPs will cast their votes according to their seat and division numbers. 

The media will be allowed to broadcast the voting live, while ballot counting and preparation of the election result will also be broadcast live until the result is declared, the Chief Whip says.

There are a total of 349 voters in Parliament, he said. If voting is completed before 5pm, the ballots will be counted and the result announced immediately. If voting remains incomplete, the authorities will wait until 5pm before counting the ballots and announcing the result.

The Chief Election Commissioner will serve as the Returning Officer, while necessary EC officials and employees will conduct the election with secretarial support from the Parliament Secretariat, he says.

Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam says Colonel (Retd) Oli Ahmad has been announced as the opposition candidate on behalf of the 11-party alliance.

He said the country has not witnessed a competitive presidential election for nearly 35 years and that the opposition has fielded a candidate to strengthen democracy and ensure a participatory election.

“The opposition did not want the election to be held uncontested. That is why we have nominated a candidate,” he says.

Later, Nurul said there is consensus on four areas concerning Article 70 in the July Charter, one of which relates to the presidential election.

“Even if the July Charter is implemented, Article 70 will remain effective in the presidential election,” he says.

He says the government is working to ensure a transparent electoral process with the aim of continuing the democratic process and institutionalising democracy.

“We want to create such a process so that the people of the country become confident in elections in the future and feel satisfied by electing candidates of their choice,” he says.

Regarding the proposed Constitution Reform Council, Nurul said there is no need to form such a council. Necessary reforms will be carried out through constitutional amendments, as is done in other democratic countries. 

Citing India as an example, he said the Indian Constitution, adopted in 1950, has been amended 106 times up to 2024.

“We will implement every letter, full stop, comma and semicolon of the July Charter exactly as it is. We all signed the charter together, and implementing it is our commitment,” he says.

The Chief Whip said a new bill will be placed in the next session of Parliament as part of the implementation of the July Charter.