Presidential election: EC mum after law minister reveals voting date

The Election Commission has remained tightlipped after Law Minister Anisul Huq said the voting for the presidential election was set for Feb 19.

President Md Abdul Hamid’s five-year term expires on Apr 23.

According to the Constitution, the election has to be held within the last 60 to 90 days of the incumbent head of state’s tenure, which starts on Wednesday.

A meeting of the election commissioners have been convened for Thursday over the matter, said the commission’s Acting Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed.

“The meeting has been scheduled for Jan 25, when the next steps (for the polls) will be decided,” he told bdnews24.com on Monday.

Later, Minister Anisul told bdnews24.com, “I came to know from the Election Commission that the voting will be held on Feb 19.”

An election commissioner said he wondered how Law Minister Anisul Huq knew the date or reveal it to the media. File photo

But no one from the Election Commission or EC commented on the date after the minister confirmed it.

EC Acting Secretary Helaluddin's phone was found switched off afterwards while Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda did not answer his phone.

Nurul Huda’s colleague Rafiqul Islam told bdnews24.com he had no knowledge of the polls.

“I do not know anything about it or the date of the voting. No discussion on the election has been held in my presence,” said the election commissioner.

Another election commissioner, asking not to be named, confirmed that the Jan 25 meeting was expected to discuss the matter.

“The CEC and one of the commissioners cannot fix a date. It has to be decided by everyone (in the commission),” he said, wondering how the law minister knew the date or reveal it to the media.

On Apr 24, 2013, Abdul Hamid was sworn in as the 20th president. Since independence, 16 people have headed the state for 19 terms. Hamid is the 17th person to serve as Bangladesh’s president.

MPs vote in the presidential election, in which the chief election commissioner acts as the election officer.

A general view of the Election Commission offices in Dhaka's Agargaon. File photo

EC Acting Secretary Helaluddin said the president’s tenure ends on Apr 23, which means the election has to be held between Jan 24 and Feb 23.

In that case, the polls will have been held during the ongoing parliament session. The commission will announce the polls schedule following a meeting between the speaker and the chief election commissioner.

MPs voted to elect a president only once in 1991, when parliamentary democracy was reinstated. Since then, he has been elected unopposed.

In case of multiple candidates, the Election Commission will conduct the voting in parliament.

After the votes close, the election commissioner will publicly count the votes and declare the name of the candidate with the highest votes as elected.

In case of a tie, the results will be determined by lottery, according to the law.