Bangladesh president wants to quit halfway through term, after February election
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Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin (left) administering the oath-taking ceremony of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as the country’s head of the interim government in Dhaka in August.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW DELHI – Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin said on Dec 11 he plans to step down midway through his term after February’s parliamentary election
As head of state, Mr Shahabuddin is commander-in-chief of Bangladesh’s armed forces, but the role is largely ceremonial, and executive power rests with the prime minister and cabinet.
However, his position gained prominence when a student-led uprising forced long-time premier Sheikh Hasina to flee to New Delhi in August 2024
Mr Shahabuddin, 75, had been elected unopposed for a five-year term in 2023 as a nominee of Hasina’s Awami League party.
“I am keen to leave. I am interested to go out,” he said in a WhatsApp interview from his official residence in Dhaka.
“Until elections are held, I should continue,” Mr Shahabuddin said. “I am upholding my position because of the constitutionally held presidency.”
The president said Mr Yunus had not met him for nearly seven months, his press department had been taken away and, in September, his portraits were removed from Bangladeshi embassies around the world.
“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,” he said. “A wrong message goes to the people that perhaps the president is going to be eliminated. I felt very much humiliated.”
Mr Shahabuddin said he had written to Mr Yunus about the portraits, but no action was taken. Mr Yunus’ press advisers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. REUTERS
