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Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)'s Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was on Thursday nominated as the party's candidate for the presidency of Bangladesh, following which he resigned from his positions as the party's Secretary General and as a member of the National Standing Committee.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Senior Joint Secretary General of the BNP, announced the decision to journalists earlier today after emerging from a meeting of the party's National Standing Committee held in front of the Bangladesh Prime Minister's Office at the Secretariat. Several leaders of the National Standing Committee, including the party's Joint Secretary General, were present at the time. "On behalf of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, I am pleased to announce that our struggling Secretary General, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, has become the party's presidential candidate," Rizvi told reporters following the meeting. "This decision was taken a short while ago in a meeting with the honourable Chairman of the party and the Prime Minister of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been selected as the BNP candidate," he added. Rizvi further confirmed Alamgir's resignation from his positions as BNP Secretary General and as a member of the National Standing Committee. This comes as the country gears up for the presidential election after 76-year-old Mohammed Shahabuddin stepped down from the presidency, citing severe health complications, last month. Shahabuddin, who had been President since April 2023, submitted his signed resignation letter to the Bangaldesh Speaker on July 24, with Speaker Major (Retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed confirming he had accepted the resignation that was submitted to him that day. Addressing reporters at a press conference held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, the national Parliament building, Ahmed said, "In accordance with Article 54 of the Constitution, I have taken charge of the President's duties in my capacity as the Speaker until a newly elected President assumes office." Shahabuddin had assumed office as the 22nd President of Bangladesh on April 24, 2023, elected unopposed as the ruling Awami League's nominee for a five-year term scheduled to end in April 2028. Under the Bangladeshi Constitution, the Speaker serves as the interim head of state when the presidency becomes vacant. The National Parliament is now mandated to elect a new President within the next 90 days from the day the president steps down from the position. (ANI)
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