Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister and senior BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said a presidential election will be held in due time under the constitution, while his party will decide whom to nominate. He made the remarks on July 27 after inaugurating a BRDB divisional office in Rangpur city’s Terminal area. The report said parliament speaker Major Hafiz Uddin has assumed the responsibilities of president.

Addressing comments by the Jamaat ameer in Sylhet, Fakhrul said those remarks were that leader’s own matter. He described BNP as a democratic political party that formed the government with two-thirds support in parliament after a long struggle and public support. He said BNP had governed the country five times and argued that people calling it a fascist party either lacked knowledge or had been conditioned to think that way.

Fakhrul urged the Jamaat ameer to read his party’s constitution and judge whether Jamaat is democratic. He said the Election Commission would decide eligibility criteria for local government candidates. Local government elections are expected at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, he said. Later, he inaugurated a rural development fair and distributed checks for small and entrepreneurial loans and incentives for adolescent girls.