Presidential election: 11-party alliance picks Oli Ahmad as its candidate

The 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has nominated Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmed as its candidate for the upcoming presidential election.

Opposition Chief Whip and National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam announced the decision on Sunday following a meeting of the alliance at the official residence of Opposition Leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman on Minto Road in the capital.

Meanwhile, the ruling BNP on Sunday collected two nomination forms for the presidential election.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni collected the forms from the office of the Returning Officer at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon.

The Election Commission (EC) announced the election schedule on August 6, setting August 20 as the voting date following the resignation of President Mohammed Shahabuddin on July 24.

Under the schedule, nomination papers can be submitted from 10am to 4pm on August 13, while scrutiny will take place on August 16. The deadline for withdrawing candidature is August 18.

If more than one candidate contests the election, voting will be held from 2pm to 5pm on August 20 at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

A contested presidential election would be the first since 1991, when the parliamentary system was restored. In that election, BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League candidate Badrul Haider Chowdhury.

In subsequent presidential elections, candidates nominated by the ruling parties were elected unopposed.

As the President is elected by Members of Parliament, the BNP candidate is widely expected to win given the party’s single majority in Parliament.