Dhaka, Aug 13 (V7N)- BNP Secretary General and Standing Committee member Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has resigned from both party posts after being nominated by BNP to contest the country's 23rd presidential election.
He submitted his resignation letter to BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman on Thursday (August 13) afternoon, in accordance with the party constitution.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi confirmed the matter at a briefing at the Secretariat in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, a delegation led by Rizvi went to the Election Commission (EC) at around 2 pm to submit Mirza Fakhrul's nomination papers for the presidential election. BNP Standing Committee member Dr. Abdul Moin Khan is the proposer of his nomination, while Gayeshwar Chandra Roy is the supporter.
Mirza Fakhrul will contest the presidential election against his former political colleague Col. (retd.) Oli Ahmed Bir Bikram. Oli Ahmed, who left the BNP and later formed the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has been nominated by the 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
The alliance had already submitted Oli Ahmed's nomination papers to the EC earlier on Thursday.
According to the presidential election schedule, August 16 is the last day for scrutiny of nomination papers, while August 18 is the deadline for withdrawal of candidacies. Voting will take place on August 20 in the session hall of the National Parliament.
As there are multiple candidates this time, members of parliament will vote to elect the president after 35 years.
The BNP holds a two-thirds majority in parliament. Therefore, Mirza Fakhrul is widely expected to win the presidential election and become the country's 23rd president.
END/SMA/AJ
