Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh’s presidential election will go ahead with BNP’s Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Jamaat-led 11-party alliance candidate Oli Ahmed as the two contestants after neither withdrew by the deadline.

The nomination withdrawal deadline expired at 4pm on Tuesday, after which Election Commission (EC) Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed the two as the final candidates.

The 22nd president, Mohammed Shahabuddin, resigned on health grounds on Jul 24.

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad has since been serving as acting president until a new president is elected, while Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal is performing the speaker’s duties.

The Constitution requires the presidential election to be held within 90 days of the office falling vacant.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin announced the election schedule on Aug 6 after consulting the speaker.

Mirza Fakhrul filed his nomination on Aug 13, while Oli did so the same day.

Both nominations were declared valid during scrutiny on Aug 16.

After the withdrawal deadline lapsed, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the two candidates would face off in the Aug 20 vote.

Polling will begin at 2pm in the parliament chamber, where the returning officer will walk lawmakers through the voting procedure before ballots are cast.

Ballot papers will be printed after Tuesday and handed to MPs on polling day.

Each MP will collect a ballot by signing their full name, then mark their vote by signing beside their chosen candidate's name and noting the serial number, before dropping the ballot into the designated box.

Voting will run until 5pm, followed by the count.

The candidate with the most valid votes will be declared winner, after which the EC will issue a gazette notification.