New Delhi: Bangladesh’s election commission on Thursday announced that the country’s presidential election will be held on August 20, nearly a month after president Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned from office citing health reasons. The poll will be conducted to elect a successor for the remainder of the constitutional process after the office fell vacant on July 24.
The election commission said members of parliament will cast their votes at the Jatiya Sangsad in Dhaka between 2pm and 5pm on August 20. Under Bangladesh’s Constitution, lawmakers elect the president, while the election commission is responsible for conducting the election.
According to the schedule, nomination papers will be accepted on August 13 at the office of the chief election commissioner. The scrutiny of nominations is scheduled for August 16, while candidates can withdraw their nominations until August 18.
Election commission secretariat senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the schedule was finalized after consultations with the acting president. He added that the electoral roll has already been prepared and the remaining administrative arrangements will be completed before polling day.
Following Shahabuddin’s resignation, the country’s parliament speaker, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, assumed the responsibilities of acting president, as required under the constitution. A new president must be elected within 90 days of the vacancy.
Shahabuddin, an ex-judge of the lower judiciary in Bangladesh who participated in the country’s 1971 war of independence, was sworn in as the president in April 2023 for a five-year term. He later stepped down from his post less than two years before his term ended due to health problems.
His resignation also raised some political concerns since there were rumours that he had been in touch with Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister, following her ousting from office in 2024. Shahabuddin denied these rumours.
The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which enjoys a two-thirds majority in Parliament, has not yet announced its candidate for the presidential election. Under Bangladesh’s constitution, no individual can serve more than two terms as president.