The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has officially named its Secretary General and Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD), Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, as its candidate for the upcoming presidential election scheduled for August 20.

Party sources confirmed on Sunday that Prime Minister and BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman finalized the nomination.

This decision marks a pivotal step toward Mirza Fakhrul’s potential ascension to the presidency.

While a senior party leader indicated that the Prime Minister has effectively cleared the appointment, other high-ranking officials noted that the final selection rests solely with Tarique Rahman, and formal internal notification is still pending.

In preparation for the election, the BNP has begun the necessary administrative procedures.

On Sunday morning, a party delegation—led by BNP Vice Chairman and Chief Whip of the National Parliament, Nurul Islam Moni and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi—collected two sets of nomination papers from the Returning Officer’s office at the Election Commission headquarters in Agargaon.

The party’s National Standing Committee had previously delegated the authority to select the presidential nominee exclusively to Chairman Tarique Rahman. Given the BNP’s absolute majority in the National Parliament, the election of the party's chosen candidate is widely viewed as a formality.

According to the Election Commission’s official schedule, the vote is set to take place in the National Parliament on August 20, between 2 pm and 5 pm.

However, if Mirza Fakhrul emerges as the only valid candidate following the scrutiny of nomination papers, a parliamentary ballot will not be required. In that event, he would be declared the next President of Bangladesh unopposed.