The 11-party alliance, led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, has chosen Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmad as its candidate for the presidential election.

Opposition Chip Whip and National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam made the announcement following a meeting of the alliance at the official residence of Leader of the Opposition Dr Shafiqur Rahman at Minto Road in the capital on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the ruling BNP on Sunday collected two nomination forms for the upcoming presidential election.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni collected the forms from the Returning Officer’s office in the Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon.

Earlier on August 6, the EC announced the schedule for the presidential election, setting August 20 as the voting date, following the resignation of Shahabuddin as President on July 24.

According to the schedule, nomination papers can be submitted from 10:00am to 4:00pm on August 13, while scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on August 16. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is August 18.

If there is more than one candidate, voting will be held from 2:00pm to 5:00pm on August 20 in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

If the contest takes place, it will be the first presidential election involving more than one candidate since 1991, when the parliamentary system was restored.

In the 1991 election, BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League candidate Badrul Haider Chowdhury. In subsequent presidential elections, candidates nominated by the ruling parties were elected unopposed.

As the President is elected by Members of Parliament, the BNP candidate is expected win due to the party’s single majority in Parliament.