Chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said on Wednesday that the next presidential election would be held on February 19.

He made the announcement after a meeting of election commissioners at his EC office in Dhaka.

The CEC said that submission of the nomination papers would take place on February 12.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on February 13 and the date of withdrawal of candidature will be February 14, he said.

The President is elected by the votes of the Members of Parliament. As the Awami League has an absolute majority in the parliament, their candidate will be the next president of the country.

In the last two presidential elections, ruling Awami League nominee Md Abdul Hamid was elected president.

On April 24, 2018, the current president Md Abdul Hamid was sworn in for the second term. His five-year term will end on April 23.

According to the rules, the Election Commission has to hold the presidential election by February 23.

Hamid’s first five-year tenure had expired on the same date in 2018, after he took office in 2013.

According to Article 123 of the constitution, the presidential election must be held 90 to 60 days before the expiry of the five-year term.