Further controversy arises over the resignation of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina as president Mohammed Shahabuddin in an interview with a Bangla daily has claimed that he did not receive any resignation letter from her.
Mohammed Shahabuddin in an interview with Manab Zamin chief editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, published in the daily’s political magazine ‘Janatar Chokh’ on Sunday, said that he heard Sheikh Hasina had resigned as the prime minister.
‘I tried [to collect the resignation letter] many times but failed. Maybe she did not get the time,’ the president was quoted to have said in the interview.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Monday urged all to refrain from destabilising or embarrassing the interim government centring on ‘media publicity’ by quoting him regarding the resignation of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, said a release from the president’s press wing.
‘The clear statement from the president is that all the questions that have arisen in the public mind regarding the resignation and departure from the country of the prime minister in the face of the student-people uprising, the dissolution of the parliament, and the constitutional validity of the incumbent interim government are answered in the order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Special Reference No-01/2024, dated August 8, 2024,’ said the release.
Invoking the Article 106 of the constitution, the Appellate Division gave this opinion as the president sought the opinion of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on August 8, 2024, it mentioned
Law, justice and parliamentary affairs adviser Asif Nazrul on Monday said that president Shahabuddin had made self-contradictory statement by saying he did not get the resignation letter of the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India on August 5 amid a student-led mass uprising.
Terming the president’s statement as a lie, he said it amounted to misconduct and violation of his oath.
‘The president himself in his address to the nation in presence of the chiefs of the three forces at 11:20pm on August 5 said that the former prime minister had tendered her resignation letter to him and he accepted it. So by saying he doesn’t have the resignation letter of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the president has made a self-contradictory statement,’ the law adviser said while talking to reporters over the matter at his office at the Secretariat.
He said that the president himself asked for the Supreme Court’s opinion applying its advisory jurisdiction as per Article 106 of the constitution to determine the next course of action of the state in the situation that arose on August 5.
Questioning the president’s mental capacity to continue as the head of the state, Asif Nazrul said, ‘We know that the constitution says that if you don’t have the physical or mental capacity, or if you commit a serious misconduct, the constitution provides a scope to take steps.’
Referring to the president’s interview with the Manabzamin editor, the adviser said that the president contradicted what he had said himself while addressing the nation.
‘This amounts to misconduct and then the question arises if he has the mental capacity to serve as the president,’ he added.
The law adviser further said that the Supreme Court’s reference bore signatures of all the Appellate Division judges, including then chief justice Obaidul Hassan.
About the matter, interim government adviser for labour and employment Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain told New Age at his office that Sheikh Hasina informed the president on telephone that she had resigned.
‘She resigned verbally as prime minister. As the president was informed of her resignation, he dissolved the parliament and formed the interim government after securing the Appellate Division’s opinion. So this would not create any crisis,’ said Asif, a representative from the protesting students in the council of advisers led by Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Immediately after Sheikh Hasina had fled the country on August 5, Bangladesh Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman said that an interim government would be formed as prime minister Sheikh Hasina had resigned from her post.
An interim government led by Muhammad Yunus took office on August 8.
No official gazette notification has yet been published about Hasina’s resignation as prime minister.
On August 10, in an exclusive interview with international news agency Reuters, Sajeeb Wazed, Hasina’s adviser and only son, claimed that his mother did not resign from her position before leaving for India.
He said that as protesters started marching towards Ganabhaban, the official residence of the prime minister, Hasina had to flee without any delay.
‘She had planned to make a statement and submit her resignation. But then the protesters started marching towards the prime minister’s residence. And there was no time. My mother wasn’t even packed. As far as the constitution goes, she is still the prime minister of Bangladesh,’ Sajeeb said.
The remarks of Sajeeb triggered some debates.
A day after Sheikh Hasina’s fall, president Mohammed Shahabuddin on August 6 dissolved the 12th parliament formed through the controversial general election held on January 7, paving the way to form an interim government.
Processions and rallies were brought out in different places in the capital and outside on Monday evening.
