Presidential election schedule to be announced on Wednesday
The presidential election schedule will be announced on Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal told journalists after meeting with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury on Tuesday.
Election Commission Secretary Md Jahangir was also present at the meeting.
"We will have a meeting of the Election Commission at 11am on Wednesday and announce the schedule. Details will be provided later," said the CEC.
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In view of the presidential election, the CEC has to meet the speaker before announcing the schedule according to the law, he added.
"After we discussed with the speaker, it was decided that we will soon announce the schedule of the presidential election. The Election Commission will announce the schedule, not the CEC. CEC is the electoral officer in the presidential election," said the CEC.
Article 123 (1) of the Constitution states that if the post of president becomes vacant due to the expiry of the term, an election shall be held to fill the vacant post within 90 to 60 days before the term expires.
The president is elected by the votes of the members of parliament. As the Awami League has an absolute majority in the parliament, their candidate will certainly become the president.
The last presidential election was scheduled on 25 January 2018 when the election date was 18 February, but since there was only one candidate, Md Abdul Hamid was elected president for the second term on 6 February. His term will end on 23 April.
This time, the countdown for the presidential election started on 23 January. The president should be elected by 23 February.
