Bangladesh Nationalist Party has named its secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, as its candidate for president. He resigned from both the party’s secretary general post and its standing committee immediately after becoming a candidate, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said at a Thursday press conference at the Secretariat. The decision to nominate him was made at a party committee meeting led by BNP chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

Rizvi is expected to become BNP’s secretary general following Fakhrul’s resignation. Fakhrul had served as secretary general since March 30, 2016, after five years as acting secretary general. He was elected a member of parliament from Thakurgaon-1 in 2001 and served as state minister for agriculture and for civil aviation and tourism between 2001 and 2006.

Under the Election Commission schedule, presidential nomination papers can be submitted on Thursday from 10am to 4pm. The commission will scrutinize nominations on August 16, while August 18 is the deadline for withdrawal. If more than one candidate remains, voting will take place on August 20. BNP and an 11-party alliance led by Jamaat have fielded candidates, creating the prospect of multiple contenders.