The Election Commission on Tuesday said that it was fully prepared to hold the president election, with the schedule to be announced through an official gazette once finalised.

Chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin made the remarks after a nearly hour-long meeting with acting speaker Kayser Kamal at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in Dhaka.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the CEC said that the constitution and the law required the Election Commission to consult the speaker before setting the date for the president election.

He said that the meeting discussed the election process in detail, but the polling date had not yet been finalised.

Once the schedule was approved, it would be announced through a gazette notification, CEC said.

Nasir Uddin said that the election would not be delayed regardless of whether Jatiya Sangsad was in session.

‘If parliament is in session, the election will be conducted under one procedure. If it is not in session, there is a separate legal arrangement,’ he said.

The CEC said that he would serve as the returning officer for the president election.

All administrative activities would be conducted from the Election Commission headquarters, while voting would take place in the Jatiya Sangsad chamber, he said.

The CEC said that the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat would provide the electoral roll of lawmakers, adding that the commission had already sent a formal request for the list.

The commission also wanted to complete the presiden election as quickly as possible as it had major responsibilities ahead, including local government elections, he said.

Replying to a question, Nasir Uddin said that meeting with acting speaker focused solely on the president election and that no discussion was held on any other issue.

Election commissioners Abdur Rahmanel Masud, Anwarul Islam Sarkar and Tahmida Ahmed attended the meeting.

The parliament secretary and the secretary to the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat were also present.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned on July 24, citing serious illness.

Under the constitution, speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad has been discharging the functions of the president until a new head of state is elected, while deputy speaker Kaiyser Kamal has assumed the speaker’s responsibilities during the interim period.

The constitution requires the president election to be held within 90 days of the office falling vacant.

Under the Presidential Elections Act, 1991, members of parliament constitute the electoral college.

A candidate’s nomination paper must be proposed by one lawmaker and seconded by another, alongside the candidate’s written consent.