Fakhrul, Oli to face off tomorrow

The High Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Bangladesh’s presidential election to proceed as scheduled on August 20, rejecting a writ petition that sought to suspend the election timetable and challenged the constitutionality of Article 70 of the Constitution.

A bench comprising Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury and Justice AFM Saiful Karim dismissed the petition, Attorney General Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajal said after the ruling.

“There is therefore no obstacle to holding the presidential election on August 20,” Kajal said.

Advocate Yunus Ali Akond filed the writ petition on August 13, arguing that Article 70 restricts members of parliament from voting independently and infringes on what he described as their democratic and fundamental rights. Akond represented himself during the hearing.

Article 70 provides that a lawmaker elected as a political party nominee will lose their parliamentary seat if they resign from the party or vote in parliament against it.

The provision, however, does not prevent the lawmaker from contesting a subsequent parliamentary election.

Akond said he would decide whether to appeal the ruling after reviewing the High Court’s full written judgment.

The petition named the law secretary, the secretary of the Parliament Secretariat and other relevant officials as respondents.

The state was represented by Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kajal, along with Deputy Attorneys General Mamun Chowdhury and Akhtar Hossain Md Abdul Wahab.
Voting in the presidential election is scheduled to take place from 2:00pm to 5:00pm on August 20.

The Election Commission has declared two candidates valid for the race, while 349 members of parliament are eligible to vote. August 18 is the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the contest.

The presidential election was called after President Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu resigned last month, citing health reasons.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has nominated its secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, as its candidate, while the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance has fielded Liberal Democratic Party chairman Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmad.

With the BNP holding a two-thirds majority in parliament, Fakhrul is widely seen as the frontrunner in the presidential race.