Dhaka: BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today announced that the party’s national standing committee has delegated the responsibility to its Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to select the party’s nominee for the upcoming presidential election. “The Standing Committee has entrusted the Prime Minister and BNP Chairman to take the necessary decisions regarding the presidential election and select the party’s nominee,” he stated.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the announcement was made following a meeting of the party’s National Standing Committee at the BNP Chairperson’s political office in Gulshan. The meeting, which was chaired by BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, commenced at 8 pm and concluded at 9:30 pm. The discussions during the meeting focused extensively on the country’s political scenario, local government elections, and party-related matters.
Standing Committee Member and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, speaking to reporters after the meeting, explained that the Speaker is currently acting as President and, as per the law, the presidential election must be completed within 90 days. He added that the Election Commission has indicated its readiness to conduct the election and that the party chairman and Prime Minister will decide the BNP’s candidate once the election schedule is announced. Salahuddin confirmed that the responsibility for proposing and deciding on the new presidential candidate lies with the party chairman.
Regarding local government elections, Salahuddin mentioned, “We are prepared to hold local government elections by the end of this year or early next year. Preparations are underway accordingly.” The meeting was attended by BNP standing committee members Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Babu Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, Salahuddin Ahmed, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, Begum Selima Rahman, and AZM Zahid Hossain.