Bangladesh Nationalist Party raises objection over demand to remove President
Oct 27, 2024
Dhaka [Bangladesh], October 27 : Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of the largest political parties in Bangladesh, has raised objection over the demand to remove the President, Mohammed Shahabuddin.
Anti-discrimination Student Movement, the group led to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, met BNP leaders late on Saturday to request them to support the demand to remove the President, but BNP did not agree.
"BNP will not take a hasty decision," said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir, referring to the demand for the removal of the President.
"We will discuss it in our party forum," he added.
"Impartial elections should be held as soon as possible after carried out the election-centric reforms," Mirza Fakrul told the reporters on Sunday.
BNP leaders consider resignation of the president will create a constitutional vacuum. "If the President is removed, it will create a constitutional vacuum in Bangladesh. It will delay the next election. BNP did not agree to this demand," Salahuddin Ahmed, another BNP leader, said earlier.
Anti-discrimination student movement, the group that led to the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, announced a 5-point demand, including the resignation of the President, at a rally in central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka in last week. Later, protesters in Bangladesh seiged Banga Bhaban, the presidential palace, demanding the resignation of the president.
Protesters moved away from Banga Bhaban after anti-discrimination student movement leaders decided to hold talks with political leaders over demand for the president's removal.
Mohammed Shaabuddin, natively known as Chuppu, is the 16th President of Bangladesh. A jurist civil servant and politician, he was elected unopposed in the 2023 presidential election in the nomination of the Awami League.
President Shahbuddin, in an interview with the Bangla Daily Manabzamin, recently mentioned that he does not have Sheikh Hasina's resignation letter.
The Anti-discrimination student movement has demanded the abolition of the constitution written in 1972 and called for writing a new constitution in the context of 2024.
The Bangladesh interim government banned Bangladesh Chatra League (BCL), the student organisation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party Awami League, after a demand by the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.
Two months ago, a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, after weeks of protests and clashes that killed over 600 people, including 44 policemen.
Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5 and an interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed.
