Bangladesh president resigns two years before term ends

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin has resigned, citing health reasons, ahead of his full five-year term, which would expire in 2028, amid rising demand from the opposition parties for him to step down.

“I am seriously ill. […] Therefore, I am unable to perform my duty of the constitutional post,” Shahabuddin, 76, said in a letter to the national parliament speaker on Friday.

Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said he accepted his resignation.

Ahmed will take the duty as interim president of Bangladesh, and a new president must be elected within the next 90 days, according to the constitution.

The resignation has come amid media reports that Shahabuddin spoke on the phone with the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is living in India, during a visit by the former to the UK for medical treatment in May this year, according to Dhaka-based The Daily Star.

Shahabuddin has refuted the media report.

“I am suffering from various health complications,” he told The Daily Star when asked about the reason for his resignation. “I have nothing more to add at this moment.”

He had travelled to London on May 9 and returned on May 18.