The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has finalised Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, its secretary-general and minister for local government, rural development and co-operatives, as its candidate for Bangladesh’s 23rd presidential election, multiple party sources said.

Two nomination papers were to be filed in Fakhrul’s name at the Election Commission, senior BNP leaders said. The duplicate papers were intended to provide a safeguard in case one contained errors, and election officials said multiple papers for one candidate are permitted. Chief Whip Md Nurul Islam and BNP senior joint secretary-general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi were due to submit the nomination papers.

Before the filing, Prime Minister and BNP chairperson Tarique Rahman was to meet the party’s national standing committee, its top policy-making body, at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Secretariat before noon. The meeting is expected to focus on the nomination and other party matters.

The Election Commission timetable requires nomination papers to be filed between 10 am and 4 pm today. Scrutiny is scheduled for August 16, and candidates may withdraw until August 18, two days before the vote.

An 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has already named Liberal Democratic Party chairman retired Colonel Oli Ahmad as its candidate.

Election Commission officials told journalists that if no nomination is cancelled, a vote will be held in the presidential election for the first time since 1991. In that case, 349 MPs from general and reserved seats would cast ballots on August 20. The Chattogram-4 seat is vacant after a court disqualified its elected MP.

Election Commission Secretary Akhter Ahmed said voting would take place from 2 pm to 5 pm on August 20 inside the parliament chamber, with MPs sitting in their seats.

On July 24, the country’s 22nd president, Mohammed Shahabuddin, resigned citing ill health. The commission then set the vote for August 20.