Candidates seeking to become Bangladesh’s 23rd president will file their nomination papers on Thursday.

Nominations can be submitted from 10am to 4pm at Chief Election Commissioner and Presidential Election Officer AMM Nasir Uddin’s office at the Election Commission building in Agargaon.

EC Secretary Akhter Ahmed said Wednesday that nominations must be submitted to the election officer within the scheduled hours. Any one of the candidates, proposer or seconder may submit the papers.

The ruling BNP has collected two nomination papers, while the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance has collected one.

The alliance’s candidate Oli Ahmad is expected to file his papers around 11am. The BNP candidate’s nomination will be submitted after noon.

Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni said, “We will go to the Election Commission in the afternoon with the presidential candidate’s nomination papers.”

What the Nomination Paper Contains

Under the Presidential Election Act, 1991, an MP can nominate an eligible person for president. The form requires signatures from one MP as proposer and another as seconder, along with the candidate’s consent.

The first page contains the proposer and seconder’s names, constituencies and signatures. The second has the candidate’s consent and eligibility declaration. The third covers submission, scrutiny and attendance.

Presidential Election Aug 20

The 22nd president, Mohammed Shahabuddin, resigned on Jul 24 citing serious illness. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad is serving as acting president until a new president is elected.

The election will be held on Aug 20 in parliament. MPs are the voters.

Schedule:

• Nomination: Aug 13, 10am-4pm

• Scrutiny: Aug 16

• Withdrawal deadline: Aug 18, 4pm

• Voting: Aug 20, 2pm-5pm

A president must be at least 35 and eligible for election to parliament. An MP elected president automatically loses the parliamentary seat.