Politics intensifies in Bangladesh, will President Mohammad Shahabuddin resign? Know the reason

According to political sources and media reports, there may be another change of power in Bangladesh soon. President Mohammad Shahabuddin He may resign about two years before the end of his five-year term. Such speculations have intensified that the government is no longer comfortable with his continuing in office. “There is a possibility that he (Shahabuddin) will resign soon,” a senior leader of Prime Minister Tariq Rahman’s ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) told PTI.

Why will President Shahabuddin resign?

Speculation regarding Shahabuddin’s resignation has intensified over the past two days, as several media outlets in Bangladesh have reported that the Tariq Rahman government is considering a change in the presidency. Shahabuddin is the only person holding a constitutional post from the previous Awami League government to remain in office even after the student-led rebellion in July-August 2024 that toppled the government of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina had fled to India on August 5, 2024 and has been living there since then.

Shahabuddin had talked to Sheikh Hasina
The newspaper ‘Prothom Alo’ quoted a senior government official as saying that the government was angry that Shahabuddin had recently tried to contact Hasina again. A senior BNP leader also told The Daily Star that the recent telephone conversation between Shahabuddin and Hasina was not the only reason for her possible resignation. The leader said the issue was “more complicated”, especially because the political atmosphere in Bangladesh has become more sensitive after Hasina’s announcement of her return to the country.

Hasina will return from India to Bangladesh in December
Earlier this month, Hasina had said that she would return to Bangladesh in December. The Bangladesh government “welcomed” his decision to return, but also said he would face justice. On November 17, 2025, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) sentenced Hasina and her former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia for their key roles in suppressing the protests known as the ‘July Uprising’. Shahabuddin, a veteran of the 1971 liberation war and a former trial court judge, had assumed office for a five-year term in April 2023.

What does the law of Bangladesh say
According to the Constitution of Bangladesh, if the President resigns, Parliamentary Speaker Hafizuddin Ahmed will serve as interim President until a new head of state is elected. The ICT-BD was established in 2010 by Hasina’s government to prosecute those who sided with the Pakistani army during Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war. Following Hasina’s ouster, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus amended the tribunal’s statute to allow the trial of leaders and officials of the former Awami League government on charges of crimes against humanity.

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