Mohammed Shahabuddin, the president of Bangladesh, has resigned due to growing concerns that Sheikh Hasina, the country’s expelled prime leader and longtime ally, may return.
Shahabuddin’s resignation follows Hasina’s announcement to Reuters that she will return to Bangladesh, where she could be executed for suppressing student-led demonstrations in 2024 that resulted in the overthrow of her administration.
Leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party have since put pressure on Shahabuddin to step down, sources told BBC Bangla. Shahabuddin signed his resignation letter on Friday afternoon, according to a number of president’s office officials.
He stated in the letter that he was quitting due to poor health. The speaker of parliament has received the letter of resignation.
The letter of resignation has been delivered to Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, the speaker of parliament.
According to sources who spoke to BBC Bangla, the speaker is ending his trip to Thailand, where he was receiving medical care.
Until a new leader is chosen, he will carry out the president’s responsibilities. Bangladesh’s constitution mandates that parliament elect a new president within ninety days.
Wide-ranging changes were implemented after Sheikh Hasina’s government was overthrown in the July popular upheaval.
Many of her supporters were eliminated, including high-ranking police officers and bureaucrats who had worked for her administration as well as others in important roles.
One of the few allies to stay in power was Shahabuddin.
He remained in office even after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party won a resounding win in the general election in February and after an interim administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus came into power.
However, Shahabuddin, whose term was scheduled to expire in 2028, expressed his desire to step down as president to Reuters last December.
Citing the abrupt removal of his photographs from Bangladeshi consulates and embassies, he claimed to have felt “humiliated” by the interim administration.
He declared at the time that he would serve as president until elections were held and that his position would be decided by the incoming administration.
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