Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin to Resign

Dhaka. The President of Bangladesh, Mohammed Shahabuddin, is going to resign. On Friday, President Shahabuddin is going to resign in the middle of his term.

According to information given by the President's spokesperson to Reuters, Shahabuddin will submit his signed resignation letter to the Speaker of Parliament on Friday. Shahabuddin's decision to resign has been made public a few days after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is in exile, announced that she would return to the country and surrender after a court ruling.

Shahabuddin is considered an old associate of Sheikh Hasina. According to sources, after Hasina announced her return to the country, public pressure mounted on the government to remove her last remaining high-ranking associates. It is said that due to this, Shahabuddin agreed to leave the post at the government's request. However, his spokesperson has not disclosed the official reason for the resignation.

Shahabuddin is the head of state and the supreme commander of the Bangladeshi armed forces. After his resignation, when Sheikh Hasina returns to the country, none of her close associates will hold any high office. Hasina's Awami League party has been banned, and many leaders and activists of the party are in jail or in hiding since the fall of her government after the student-led movement in 2024.

According to the Constitution of Bangladesh, the resignation becomes effective immediately after the President submits the resignation letter to the Speaker. The Speaker is responsible for assuming the duties of the acting president until a new president is elected. Last November, Bangladesh's war crimes tribunal sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia for allegedly ordering the crackdown on the 2024 movement. According to the United Nations, about 1,400 people died during that movement.

Hasina, who is in exile in India, has denied all charges against her. The potential return of Hasina to the country is seen as a major political challenge at a time when the government of Prime Minister Tariq Rahman, who won the general election held in February with a large majority, is trying to establish stability in the country.

76-year-old Shahabuddin was elected unopposed as president in November 2023 as the Awami League candidate. He had previously stated that he planned to leave the post after the February elections. He said that the interim government had made him ineffective.