All set for presidential election: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin said all preparations have been completed to conduct the historic presidential election in a very smooth and orderly manner, reports state news agency BSS.

The CEC said this while briefing journalists at his office in the capital's Agargaon Administrative Area.

“We’ve completed all the preparations required for the presidential election. There is no shortfall in our preparations. We are receiving cooperation from everyone involved in the election and believe that we will be able to conduct a beautiful presidential election,” he added.

CEC Nasir continued, “The number of voters is 349. Voting will be held from 2pm to 5pm. Here, our President is a voter, the Prime Minister is a voter, the Speaker is a voter, and the Leader of the Opposition is also a voter.”

“The world is watching the presidential election being held in Bangladesh. So, this is a historic moment. This is a matter of fortune for me,” he added.

“You all know that the first presidential election was held in 1991. But no presidential election was held after that. We're not accustomed to holding presidential elections. Even those working at the Parliament Secretariat are not accustomed to conducting this type of activity."

"But we have carried out all possible and necessary drills so that there is no gap in the entire process,” he said.

The Presidential Election Rules are in place under the 1991 law and, according to the law, this presidential election activity can be divided into several stages.

Noting the election procedure, CEC Nasir said, “If the National Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) is in session, there is one type of arrangement and if it is not in session, there would be another type of arrangement.”

“Now our National Parliament is not in session, so, it is unnecessary to summon a session of Parliament only for the election.

It is enough to call a meeting for this. The election officer will call a meeting and the Members of Parliament will cast their votes there,” he said.

“Initially, the voting of the President, Prime Minister, Speaker and Leader of the Opposition will be telecast live, probably, through BTV,” he said.

To ensure the transparency of the process, vote counting will be telecast live and parliament members will be allowed to be present during the vote counting.

After the counting, the CEC will announce the name of the winner and an official gazette will be published.