EC to start Presidential poll arrangements

The Election Commission (EC) will meet next week to initiate formalities for holding the presidential election, Commissioner Md. Zabed Ali says.

Zillur Rahman died at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on Mar 20. As per the Constitution, a new President has to be elected by June 19.

Speaker Abdul Hamid is discharging the President’s duties since Mar 14, as per Article 54 of the Constitution.

Ali said,” We have already made progress for electing the President. Next week the commission’s meeting will start the necessary formalities like announcing election schedule.”

He said the final decision on the election schedule would be taken after discussions with the Speaker and Election Secretariat as per the Presidential Election Act, 1991.

Although he did not mention the possible date for the announcement of the schedule, he expressed EC’s desire to complete the election within seven days of the announcement.

300 MPs will vote for their favourite candidate in front of the Chief Election Commissioner, who will supervise the whole election process.

Officials of the EC secretariat said, after the introduction of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh, the MPs had to elect the President only once in 1991 as there were two candidates - Abdur Rahman Biswas and Badrul Haider Chowdhury.

President election by June 19