Dhaka, Aug 09 (V7N) – The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has collected two nomination forms from the Election Commission (EC) for the upcoming presidential election.

The forms were collected from the office of the Chief Election Officer at the Election Building in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Sunday (August 9). BNP Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi collected the nomination papers on behalf of the party.

Several Names in Discussion

Earlier, on Saturday (August 1), the BNP Standing Committee assigned party Chairperson and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman the responsibility of selecting the party's presidential candidate.

Several senior BNP leaders are reportedly being considered for the post. Party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is among the names receiving significant attention.

The names of Standing Committee members Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Dr Moin Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and Gayeshwar Chandra Roy have also been discussed within party circles.

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed and BNP Vice Chairman and former Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury have also emerged as possible candidates.

According to a section of BNP leaders, however, the party is likely to prefer a figure with strong political and organizational experience for the presidency.

Election Schedule

The EC announced the schedule for the 23rd presidential election last Thursday.

According to the schedule, nomination papers will be submitted on August 13 from 10am to 4pm. The nomination papers will be scrutinized on August 16, while the deadline for withdrawing candidacy is August 18.

If voting is required, it will take place on August 20 from 2pm to 5pm in the session hall of the Jatiya Sangsad.

The country's 22nd President, Md Shahabuddin, resigned from office on July 24. Following his resignation, the EC began preparations for the 23rd presidential election.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin has also held a meeting with the Speaker of Parliament as part of the preparations for the election.

END/SMA/AJ