Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned from office on Friday, with the Speaker of the national Parliament formally accepting his resignation, according to local media reports.
Shahabuddin, who assumed office in April 2023, was the only top constitutional office holder to remain in position following the July 2024 demonstrations. Although his term was likely to end in April 2028, he stepped down nearly two years early.
Speaking to Bangladesh’s leading newspaper The Daily Star, Shahabuddin attributed his resignation to health concerns.
“I am suffering from various health complications. I have nothing more to add at this moment,” he said.
Shahabuddin’s resignation comes amid reports that he held a telephonic conversation with former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina while undergoing medical treatment in London in May this year.
According to The Daily Star, citing sources, intelligence agencies later discovered the conversation, after which developments led to Shahabuddin’s resignation.
A senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader reportedly said the alleged phone conversation was not the sole reason for Shahabuddin’s resignation, describing the matter as ‘more complex’.
According to Prothom Alo, Shahabuddin’s continuation in office had remained a subject of political debate following the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government during the July 2024 protests.
The resignation also comes as the BNP-led government intensifies its crackdown on Awami League leaders and follows Shahabuddin’s recent claim that efforts to remove him took place during the tenure of the previous Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
Earlier this year, in an interview with Kaler Kantho, Shahabuddin said, “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.”
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