Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin has said he intends to leave office before completing his term, indicating he will step down after the country’s February parliamentary election. Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, Shahabuddin said he felt “humiliated” and sidelined by the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Presidency Turns Contentious
Shahabuddin, 75, serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, though the presidency is largely ceremonial in the nation of 173 million. Executive powers lie with the prime minister and cabinet. His position gained prominence in 2024 when a student-led uprising forced long-time prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to New Delhi in August, leaving Shahabuddin as the only constitutionally recognised authority after parliament was dissolved.
Elected unopposed in 2023 as the Awami League’s nominee, he is serving a five-year term. The Awami League has since been barred from contesting the 12 February election.
Claims of Being Marginalised Under Yunus
In the WhatsApp interview conducted from his official Dhaka residence, Shahabuddin said he no longer wished to stay in the post. “I am keen to leave. I am interested to go out,” he said, adding he would remain only until the election. “Until elections are held, I should continue. I am upholding my position because of the constitutionally held presidency.”
He alleged that the Yunus-led administration had sidelined him. He said Yunus had not met him for close to seven months, his press department had been removed, and portraits of the president were taken down from embassies and consulates worldwide in September.
“There was the portrait 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.”
Shahabuddin said he wrote to Yunus regarding the removal but received no reply. “My voice has been stifled,” he said. Reuters reported that Yunus’ press advisers had not responded to requests for comment.
Contact With the Military
The president said he is in regular communication with Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, whose forces remained neutral during last year’s unrest that led to Hasina’s departure. He said the army chief had assured him he did not intend to take power, despite Bangladesh’s history of military interventions. Zaman has publicly said he supports a return to democratic governance.
Shahabuddin noted that although student groups had called for his resignation at the start of the uprising, no political party had recently asked him to step down.
He declined to say whether Hasina had contacted him after she fled the country. He maintained that he had operated independently since assuming office and was no longer aligned with any political party.
Election Outlook
Opinion polls suggest that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, and the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami are currently favoured. The two parties previously governed together from 2001 to 2006.
