Bangladesh President Mohammad Shahabuddin has, reportedly, claimed that he lacks any documentary evidence or paperwork concerning the resignation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who departed the country in August this year after a two-month-long nationwide student protest.
In an interview with Bangladeshi daily Manab Zamin’s political magazine Janatar Chokh, President Shahbuddin stated that he searched for Hasina’s official resignation but could not find it.
“Maybe she didn’t get the time,” he said, as quoted in the interview, which was published on Sunday.
“At 10:30 am on August 5, Bangabhaban (the president’s residence) received a call from the Prime Minister’s residence, indicating that the honourable Prime Minister would visit Bangabhaban to meet the president. Preparations began immediately, but within an hour, another call informed that she won’t be coming.”
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President Shahabuddin further asserted that Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, who announced the former prime minister’s resignation in a televised address, had also informed him that he had only “heard she has resigned”. The president also mentioned receiving a similar response from his military secretary.
However, the president clarified that there was no controversy or legal issue about the formation of the interim government under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus. “The fact is that the prime minister has left,” President Shahabuddin said.
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Following Hasina's departure, he sought the advice of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. On August 8, the Appellate Division led by the then Chief Justice Obaidul Hasan suggested that an interim government could be established to fill the constitutional gap and carry out executive duties properly.
Earlier, Sheikh Hasina’s son, Sajid Wazed Joy, had also made the claim that his mother didn’t have the opportunity to officially resign before fleeing the country on August 5.
Meanwhile, as per information from the Government of India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal last week, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh remains in India.