Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin said he will step down after February elections, alleging humiliation by the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus
Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Thursday said that he plans to resign midway through his five-year term after the parliamentary
election in February, alleging humiliation by the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, according to a Reuters report.
Shahabuddin, 75, serves as the country’s head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but his role is largely ceremonial, with executive authority resting with the prime minister and cabinet in the predominantly Muslim nation of 173 million people.
His position, however, gained prominence in August 2024, when a student-led uprising forced long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to New Delhi, leaving Shahabuddin as the last remaining constitutional authority after parliament was dissolved.
Shahabuddin, 75, had been elected unopposed for a five-year term in 2023 as a nominee of Hasina’s Awami League party, which has been barred from contesting the February 12 election.
“I am keen to leave. I am interested to go out,” Reuters quoted him as saying in a WhatsApp interview from his official residence in Dhaka, in what he said was his first media interview since taking office.
“Until elections are held, I should continue,” Shahabuddin said. “I am upholding my position because of the constitutionally held presidency.”
The president said that Yunus had not met with him for nearly seven months, his press department had been removed, and in September, his portraits were taken down from Bangladeshi embassies worldwide.
“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,” Shahabuddin told _Reuter_s.
“A wrong message goes to the people that perhaps the president is going to be eliminated. I felt very much humiliated,” he added.
He added that he had written to Yunus about the portraits, but no action was taken.
“My voice has been stifled,” he said.
Press advisers to Yunus did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to Reuters.
President in contact with Army chief
The president said he has been in regular contact with Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, whose forces stood aside during the deadly protests against Hasina in August 2024, effectively determining the veteran politician’s fate.
Shahabuddin added that Zaman had made it clear he had no intention of seizing power.
Bangladesh has a history of military rule, but Zaman has emphasised his commitment to restoring democracy.
Shahabuddin said that while some student protesters initially called for his resignation, no political party had requested it in recent months.
Opinion polls suggest that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, along with the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami, are likely frontrunners to form the next government. Both parties were part of the coalition that governed from 2001 to 2006.
When asked if Hasina, who led the country for 20 years, had tried to contact him after fleeing, Shahabuddin declined to comment, emphasizing that he has remained independent since becoming president and is not affiliated with any political party.
With inputs from agencies
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