Law Minister Anisul Huq on Wednesday said a new president will be elected in due time since the second term of Abdul Hamid expires in four months.
The minister was responding to reporters after inaugurating a workshop for judges of lower courts at the Judicial Administration Training Institute in the capital.
The law minister said: "The government has no plans to amend the constitution. The president will be elected on time. Since he (Abdul Hamid) has served two terms, he cannot stay longer as president as per the constitution. Therefore, a new president will be elected.”
On Apr 24, 2013, Abdul Hamid was sworn in as the 20th president of Bangladesh.
After the end of his first tenure, Hamid also took oath as the president on the same date in 2018 for the second term.
Hamid is the only President who has been serving for two consecutive terms. His second and last tenure will expire on April 24 this year.
Bangladesh's constitution allows a maximum of two terms for a person in the post of president.
The president is elected by members of the parliament in accordance with the law.
There was speculation that the government may amend the constitution to allow Hamid to stay in the post for another term, but the law minister categorically said they have no such plans.
Regarding the bail of senior BNP leaders, the minister said: "Not even the law ministry or any other ministry is interfering in the work of the court. If the court wants, it will grant bail. If the court thinks that bail cannot be granted, it will not be given.”
It often happens that the lower courts do not grant bail, the higher court grants bail. The lower court granted bail, the higher court stayed it. This is nothing new in Bangladesh, he said.
Those who have raised questions about it, they may not have seen Jatiya Party-BNP's activities during their regimes, or even if they see, they do not want to say this, he added.