Bangla Press Desk: Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has stepped down as BNP secretary general and member of the BNP National Standing Committee after being nominated by the ruling party as its candidate for Bangladesh's presidency.
He announced his decision at a high-level BNP meeting at the Secretariat on Thursday.
BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman chaired the meeting with members of the party's Standing Committee and senior leaders before announcing Fakhrul's name as the party's presidential candidate.
Fakhrul resigned from his current party positions immediately afterwards.
The BNP Standing Committee had assigned Tarique the responsibility of selecting the party's presidential candidate at a meeting on Aug 1.
Several Standing Committee members told bdnews24.com that Tarique had spoken to members of the party’s highest policymaking body by phone over the past few days to seek their views before calling Thursday's meeting to formally announce the choice.
Fakhrul's nomination papers will be submitted to the Election Commission after the meeting, with Thursday being the deadline for nominations under the election schedule.
After the restoration of parliamentary democracy, the 1991 presidential election was contested by multiple candidates and required a vote. Since then, presidents have been elected unopposed with candidates backed by the ruling party winning each time.
This year's election will be the second contested presidential election in 35 years after the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance announced that it would field a candidate.
The 11-party opposition alliance is nominating Liberal Democratic Party President Oli Ahmad.
The presidential election is scheduled to take place in the Jatiya Sangsad chamber on Aug 20 from 2pm to 5pm.
With the ruling BNP holding two-thirds of the seats in parliament, Fakhrul is widely expected to secure the presidency, leaving the vote largely a formality.
