Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin resigns

Dhaka: Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin stepped down from office on Friday with the Speaker of the national Parliament formally accepting his resignation letter, the local media reported.

Shahabuddin, who assumed office in April 2023, was the only top constitutional office holder to hold the post since the July 2024 demonstrations. Although his tenure was due to end in April 2028, he resigned almost two years before its conclusion.

Speaking to Bangladesh’s leading newspaper ‘The Daily Star’, Shahabuddin cited health reasons for his resignation.

“I am suffering from various health complications. I have nothing more to add at this moment,” he said.

His resignation came amid reports that Shahabuddin held a telephonic conversation with the country’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina while he was in London for medical treatment in May this year, ‘Daily Star’ reported, citing sources.

The report said that intelligence agencies subsequently learned about the conversation, following which the President was asked to step down.

However, a senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader claimed that the reported phone conversation was not the sole reason behind the anticipated resignation, terming the matter as “more complex”.

Following the ouster of the Hasina-led Awami League government during the July 2024 protests, Shahabuddin’s continuation as President became the focus of sustained political debate in the country, another leading Bangladeshi daily ‘Prothom Alo’ reported.

This latest development in Bangladesh’s fast-evolving political landscape comes amid the BNP-led government’s growing crackdown on leaders associated with the Awami League.

It also followed Shahabuddin’s recent claims that attempts had been made to overthrow him from office during the tenure of the previous Muhammad Yunus-led interim government

Earlier this year, in an interview with Bangladeshi Bengali daily ‘Kaler Kantho’ at Bangabhaban, his official residence in Dhaka, Shahabuddin asserted that he was excluded from key discussions during the one-and-a-half-year tenure of the interim government, alleging that conspiracies were hatched to overthrow him and that attempts were made to destabilise the country and create a constitutional vacuum.

“During those one and a half years, I have not been in any discussion, yet various conspiracies are being hatched against me. There have been many attempts to permanently destroy the peace and order of the country and create a constitutional vacuum,” he stated.