Bangladesh to hold presidential poll on April 29

Dhaka: Bangladesh`s election commission has declared April 29 as the date to hold presidential election in the country. The Chief Election Commissioner, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed, made the announcement here Tuesday evening at his office during a press briefing, Xinhua reported. The post fell vacant following the death of President Zillur Rahman March 20 in Singapore, where he was undergoing medical treatment.

Since then, Abdul Hamid, speaker of Bangladesh parliament, has been serving as the acting president. The country must elect its 20th president before June this year in line with the constitution of the country. Acting President Abdul Hamid has called the next session of the parliament April 21 as the parliamentarians will vote in this democratic set up of governance. The aspirants will have to submit their nomination papers by April 21 and the nomination papers can be withdrawn till April 24. After parliamentary democracy was introduced in Bangladesh, the lawmakers here have voted and elected president only once in 1991 when there were more than one candidates for the post. But the trend changed later and the ruling party candidate has always been elected as the president without a contest. AFP