Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin will resign on Friday, clearing the last senior state official closely associated with ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from office just months before she plans to return from exile.
Shahabuddin's resignation comes days after Hasina told Reuters she intended to return to Bangladesh around December and surrender following her conviction by a war crimes tribunal.
The president's spokesperson, Sarwar Alam, said Shahabuddin would submit his resignation to Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad upon the speaker's return from Thailand on Friday.
"According to the Constitution, the president's resignation becomes effective upon submission of a signed letter to the speaker," Alam said.
Under Bangladesh's Constitution, the parliamentary speaker will serve as acting president until lawmakers elect a successor.
Alam did not specify why Shahabuddin was stepping down. However, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters the government had urged him to resign because of his longstanding ties to Hasina after the former prime minister announced plans to return from exile.
The resignation removes Hasina's last remaining ally from high office as Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's government seeks to consolidate power following February's election victory.
Hasina's Awami League has been banned since the 2024 student-led uprising that toppled her government. Many senior party members have since been jailed or gone into hiding.
Last November, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Hasina to death in absentia for ordering a crackdown on protesters during the 2024 uprising. A U.N. report said nearly 1,400 people were killed in the unrest. Hasina, who has been living in India, denies the charges.
Her planned return is expected to test the government's efforts to restore political stability in the South Asian nation of 173 million people.
Shahabuddin, 76, was elected unopposed in 2023 as the Awami League's nominee for a five-year term. His office is largely ceremonial, although it assumed greater symbolic importance after Hasina fled to New Delhi in August 2024, leaving the presidency as the country's highest elected office.
Reuters reported that Shahabuddin informed Prime Minister Rahman of his decision to resign earlier this week. Rahman's office did not immediately comment.
