Bangladesh President Shahabuddin, 76, resigns citing health concerns

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin, a former ally of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has resigned citing serious health issues, his office said on Friday.

Shahabuddin, 76, has held the largely ceremonial post of president since April 2023, a period that included volatile months after Hasina’s flight to India following a student-led uprising against her rule in 2024.

“Recent medical examinations have diagnosed me with a condition known as autonomic neuropathy. Due to this condition, I occasionally experience momentary loss of consciousness,” Shahabuddin said in a statement released by his press secretary.

The speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, the national parliament, will perform the duties of the president until a new one is elected, the statement said.

Shahabuddin also cited his deteriorating health in a resignation letter to the speaker of parliament, seen by AFP.

“Due to worsening physical and mental incapacity… it is no longer possible for me to properly discharge the responsibilities of an important constitutional office such as the presidency,” it said.

Shahabuddin, widely known as “Chuppu”, was elected by parliament in 2023 with support from Hasina’s Awami League.

When a student revolt ousted the autocratic Hasina in 2024, calls mounted for the president to be removed, too.

Shahabuddin was accused of speaking to Hasina by phone while he was undergoing medical treatment in London in May, an allegation he has denied.

Shahabuddin’s resignation would leave Hasina with no allies in high office five months before her planned return.

Her Awami League party is banned, and many of its leaders and activists have been jailed or gone into hiding since the deadly student-led uprising in 2024.