President's resignation: Govt seeks solution thru political consensus

The interim government does not want to take any hasty decision regarding the resignation of President Md Shahabuddin. The government is looking for a solution through discussions with political parties. The Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee are adamant in their demand for the resignation of the president.

President Md Shahabuddin, in a recent interview with a national daily, said there was no document of the resignation of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted from power in the face of the uprising of students and people. The president’s comment also sparked harsh criticism from some of the advisers.

In this context, the advisory council of the interim government raised the issue for the first time in their meeting held on Thursday. In the meeting, the council decided to resolve the matter through discussions with the political parties.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, adviser for environment, forest and climate change Syeda Rizwana Hasan said the government started discussions with the political parties on whether the president should remain in the post or not. The government would take the final decision on the basis of a consensus of the political parties.

Two other advisers said the students demand the resignation of the president. At the same time, some of the political parties are saying the president’s resignation will lead to a constitutional crisis, which they don’t want right now. The overall situation was discussed in the advisory council meeting. The government feels the decision needs to be taken on the basis of discussions with the political parties.

It was the first time that the issue of the president's resignation was officially discussed in the advisory council meeting.

Earlier on Monday, law adviser Asif Nazrul said, “The president said that he did not receive the resignation letter of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. This is a lie and akin to violating his oath of office.”

Amidst various discussions over this, three central leaders of BNP met the chief advisor on Wednesday. They said their party didn’t want the president’s resignation right now. BNP feels it will lead to a constitutional and political crisis.

Environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan spoke to the newspersons regarding decisions of the advisory council meeting at a press conference yesterday.

She said the decision regarding the president’s resignation would not be delayed. It will not be a hasty decision either. The final decision will be taken very soon.

Addressing the press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy, Syeda Rizwana Hasan said, “What the President said has been taken into our account and the ongoing movement demanding removal of the President is being considered.”

Rizwana Hasan said, “Some political parties are talking about a potential constitutional crisis. Some leaders of a political party said the president's resignation would create a constitutional vacuum. Some leaders of that party also said that there would not be any political crisis. We discussed that in the advisory council meeting.”

Meanwhile the Students Against Discrimination set an ultimatum to realise their five-point-demand, including the resignation of the president. The Jatiya Nagorik Committee also supported them. The second of the five-point-demand was to ban the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL). The interim government already accomplished that.

In such a situation, the BNP leaders said their party did not want any state, constitutional and political crisis in the country at the moment centering the post of president.

Meanwhile, the Students Against Discrimination and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee are not happy with BNP’s stance. They held a joint press conference mainly to respond to the BNP’s opinion. There, they urged the political decisions to not rush any decision.

The Students Against Discrimination and Jatiya Nagorik Committee is considering holding discussions with the political parties as the BNP cited a potential ‘constitutional crisis’ in this regard. 

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Student Against Discrimination member secretary Arif Sohel said they still demand the resignation of the president. They will hold a meeting on Friday to set the next course of action.