Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance on Sunday named veteran politician and former army officer Colonel (retired) Oli Ahmed as its candidate for the August 20 presidential election, raising the prospect of the country’s first contested presidential poll in decades.
Oli, a 1971 Liberation War veteran, is chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, one of the constituents of the opposition alliance.
National Citizen Party (NCP) convener and Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam announced the decision after a meeting of alliance leaders at the Dhaka residence of Leader of the Opposition and Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman.
“The 11-party alliance has decided to take part in the presidential election and field a common candidate,” Nahid said, describing Oli as an experienced politician and freedom fighter.
Oli thanked the alliance for unanimously choosing him. “Whether we win or lose is not the question. The question is that we will always stand by the people to protect their interests,” he said.
Shafiqur said the decision to contest was intended to promote a competitive presidential election. “We believe politics should be transparent in every sphere. It should be competitive. Only then will democracy regain its momentum and good health,” he said.
The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, meanwhile, collected two nomination forms on Sunday. BNP Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi obtained the papers from the returning officer’s office at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka.
The presidential post fell vacant after Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned on July 24. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad has since been discharging the duties of acting president.
The Election Commission has scheduled polling for August 20. Nomination papers can be filed between 10am and 4pm on August 13, scrutiny will take place on August 16 and candidates can withdraw until 4pm on August 18. If more than one candidate remains, MPs will vote at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban between 2pm and 5pm on August 20.
Unlike India, where an electoral college comprising elected MPs and MLAs chooses the president, Bangladesh’s president is elected by members of parliament.
A contested election would be significant. Bangladesh has largely seen ruling-party nominees elected unopposed since the restoration of the parliamentary system in 1991. That year, BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League nominee Badrul Haider Chowdhury.
The BNP holds a single-party majority in the present parliament, giving its eventual nominee a numerical advantage if the election goes to a vote.