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The Election Commission on Sunday declared the nomination papers of BNP-nominated candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 11-party alliance candidate Col (retd) Oli Ahmed valid for the country’s 23rd presidential election.
Chief Election Commissioner A M M Nasir Uddin, acting as the election officer, announced the decisions after scrutinising the nomination papers at the Election Commission office in Agargaon, Dhaka.
The EC received two nomination papers for Oli Ahmed and one for Mirza Fakhrul. As at least one nomination paper of Oli was found valid, the second one did not require separate scrutiny, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said.
Oli’s nomination was proposed by Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and seconded by NCP MP Abdullah Al Amin. After the scrutiny, Dhaka-16 lawmaker and 11-party alliance-supported MP Col (retd) Md Abdul Baten said there was no possibility of Oli withdrawing his candidature.
Meanwhile, BNP Standing Committee member and MP Gayeshwar Chandra Roy said after the scrutiny that the BNP would follow the existing constitutional provisions regarding the presidential election. He said any discussion on amending Article 70 of the Constitution could take place in Parliament later, but not before the presidential election.
The deadline for withdrawal of candidature is 4pm on August 18, while voting for the presidential election will be held on August 20.