On 11th December (Thursday), 75-year-old Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin announced his intention to resign halfway through his term following the parliamentary election in February, reported Reuters. He expressed how the interim administration, headed by Muhammad Yunus, degraded him. Shahabuddin is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. However, his position is essentially ceremonial while the prime minister and his cabinet hold the executive authority.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country in August 2024 due to the violent agitation and Shahabuddin became the sole constitutional authority left when parliament disbanded. He was nominated by Hasina’s Awami League party, which is prohibited from participating in the upcoming election and was appointed unanimously for a five-year term in 2023.
Shahabuddin gave a WhatsApp interview from his official residence in Dhaka and expressed, “I am keen to leave. I am interested to go out.” He further conveyed, “Until elections are held, I should continue. I am upholding my position because of the constitutionally held presidency.” It was his first interview with the media since assuming office.
The president declared that he would let the next government determine the future course of action even if he personally wanted to step down. “If they tell me they plan to choose their own president, I will step aside,” he added.
According to opinion polls, Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami and the former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are expected to form the next government. Their coalition already held power from 2001 to 2006.
Shahabuddin mentioned that Yunus had not seen him in almost seven months. Moreover, his photos were pulled out of Bangladeshi embassies all around the world in September and his press department was also shut down. “There was the portrait of the president, picture of the president in all consulates, embassies and high commissions, and this has been eliminated suddenly in one night. A wrong message goes to the people that perhaps the president is going to be eliminated. I felt very much humiliated,” he voiced.
Shahabuddin noted that no action took place even after he wrote to Yunus about the portraits and pointed out, “My voice has been stifled.” In August 2024, Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman‘s forces withdrew amid the widespread protests, ensuring Hasina’s political doom, according to the president.
He maintained to be in constant communication with Zaman, who has insisted that he had no plans to seize power. Zaman claimed that he wants democracy to return despite Bangladesh’s history of military rule.
Shahabuddin indicated that no political party had requested his resignation in recent months, except the demands of certain student demonstrators. He refused to respond when asked if Hasina who had ruled for 20 years had attempted to get in touch with him after escaping the country. Shahabuddin stressed that since taking office, he has remained independent and unaffiliated with any political party.
