Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Bangladesh’s ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Thursday named its secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, as its candidate for the presidential election on August 20, putting him in line to become the country’s next head of state. The move comes after former president Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned on July 24, citing serious health problems, nearly two years before the end of his term.
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The 78-year-old veteran leader resigned as BNP secretary general and from the party’s highest policy-making standing committee after being nominated, senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said. With the BNP holding a two-thirds majority in parliament after returning to power in the February 12 elections, Alamgir is in a strong position in the contest.
“It is with great pleasure that I announce on behalf of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party that our dedicated secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, has become the BNP’s presidential candidate,” Rizvi said.
The nomination was announced after a meeting of senior BNP leaders with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who is also the party chairman, at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. Under the Election Commission’s schedule, Alamgir had to submit his nomination papers by 4 pm on Thursday.
Bangladesh’s main opposition Jamaat-e-Islami has also fielded Liberal Democratic Party chairman Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmad, a leader of its alliance. Ahmad has already submitted his nomination papers to the Election Commission.
Under Bangladesh’s Constitution, the president is elected by parliament. Parliamentary Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad is now serving as Acting President following the vacancy in the office. If elected, Alamgir will become Bangladesh’s 23rd president. He has been among the BNP’s most prominent leaders for more than a decade, serving as acting secretary general from 2011 before formally taking over the post in 2016.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
