Who is Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin and why are protesters demanding his resignation?

Just months after mass public protests forced long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down from her post and flee the country, Bangladesh has slipped back into turmoil. Several hundred protesters on Tuesday tried to storm the presidential palace, Bangabhaban, demanding President Mohammed Shahabuddin's resignation.

CREDIT: AP

Protesters besiege Bangladesh Presidential palace

While the army managed to block them from entering the presidential palace, the protesters besieged Bangabhaban and started chanting slogans demanding his resignation.

"The President is a crony of Hasina's authoritarian government. He must resign immediately," a protester said.

CREDIT: REUTERS

Who is Mohammed Shahabuddin

Shahabuddin is the 16th and incumbent President of Bangladesh and assumed office in April 2023. A student leader of the Awami League, Shahabuddin started his career in 1982 as an Assistant Judge of the Judicial cadre in the Bangladesh Civil Service. As a jurist, Shahabuddin was also appointed as a coordinator in the trial to prosecute the assassins of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

He was also a director board member of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited until he resigned from the post in 2023 to contest the Presidential election.

CREDIT: REUTERS

Why protesters are demanding Shahabuddin's resignation

Shahabuddin had angered the student protesters with his recent comments about Hasina. Earlier this week, Shahabuddin said that he does not have any documentary evidence of Sheikh Hasina resigning as prime minister before she fled the country in August.

What Shahabuddin said about Hasina's resignation

According to Shahabuddin, he heard that Hasina had resigned as prime minister before she fled Bangladesh, but he does not have documentary evidence of her resignation.

"At one point, I heard that she (Hasina) had left the country without informing me... When the army chief, General Waker, came to Bangabhaban, I tried to find out whether the prime minister had resigned. The answer was the same: he heard she had resigned but probably did not get the time to inform us. When everything was under control, one day, the cabinet secretary came to collect a copy of the resignation letter. I told him I was also looking for it," Shahabuddin said.

CREDIT: AP

Did Shahabuddin lie to Bangladesh?

However, the Law Affairs Adviser, equivalent to the minister, of Professor Muhammad Yunus's interim government, Asif Nazrul, countered the claims.

He reminded that on the night of August 5, Shahabuddin had addressed the nation, saying, "You know Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has tendered her resignation letter to the president and I have received it."

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