Bangladesh President to Quit After Polls, Cites ‘Humiliation’ by Yunus-Led Interim Government
Shahabuddin reveals humiliation and plans resignation after February polls.
In an explosive interview from his official residence in Dhaka on Thursday, Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin declared that he will resign the moment parliamentary elections conclude in February 2026, unable to bear further humiliation from the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government that stripped him of dignity, staff, and even his official portraits worldwide.
The 75-year-old head of state, who has served as the last remaining pillar of constitutional authority since Sheikh Hasina fled to India in August 2024, said he has been deliberately isolated for nearly seven months. Yunus, the Nobel laureate appointed Chief Adviser after the student-led revolution, has not held a single meeting with the president despite Shahabuddin being nominal commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
In the most symbolic insult, Shahabuddin disclosed that on one night in September, orders were issued to immediately remove his official portraits from every Bangladeshi embassy, high commission, consulate, and mission across the globe. “Suddenly one night, all my pictures disappeared. It sent a message to the world that the presidency itself was being eliminated. I felt deeply humiliated,” he told Reuters via WhatsApp, confirming he personally wrote to Yunus demanding restoration but was ignored.
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His entire press wing has been disbanded, protocol officers reassigned, and routine ceremonial functions cancelled without explanation. Once a largely ceremonial but respected office, the presidency has been reduced to a hollow shell under the interim setup, with real power concentrated in Yunus’s advisory council.
Shahabuddin made clear he is staying only to prevent a constitutional vacuum until an elected prime minister takes oath after the February polls. “I am keen to leave the day the new government is formed. I am upholding this position purely because the constitution demands continuity,” he stated, confirming he will become the first Bangladeshi president in history to voluntarily cut short his five-year term amid a turbulent political transition.
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