Dhaka: Former university professor Yazuddin Ahmed is set to become Bangladesh's surprise new President, succeeding a high-profile politician who was forced to resign after a row with the ruling party.

Senior party leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on September 3 submitted Ahmed's nomination papers to the Chief Election Commissioner M Abu Sayeed.

Bangladesh's President is elected by Parliament and as the Opposition is boycotting the poll, Ahmed is virtually certain to become the country's 14th President.

If there is no other contestant to the largely ceremonial post, the election commission will confirm him as the new President on September 5.

Otherwise, a vote will take place on September 16 in the Parliament, where the BNP- led alliance has a two-thirds majority.

Ahmed's nomination comes three months after former President Badruddoza Chowdhury resigned after the BNP charged that he had disrespected the party's founder Ziaur Rahman, the Prime Minister's late husband, by not attending a function marking his 1981 assassination.

Parliament Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar has been acting President in line with Bangladesh's Constitution, which also requires a Presidential election no more than 90 days after the post is vacated.