The government on Thursday decided to make a decision on the demand for resignation of the president, Mohammed Shahabuddin, based on a political consensus as it considers it as a political issue, rather than a constitutional one.
The cabinet made the decision at its meeting with chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair at his Tejgaon office, the government鈥檚 spokesperson and environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan told a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy after the meeting.
鈥榃e have discussed it as a matter of public demand in the council of advisers鈥� meeting,鈥� she said.
鈥楽ince there is a strong demand from the public for the resignation of the president, we will make a political decision in this regard based on political consensus,鈥� she added.
Rizwana said that discussions on the issue were under way with the political parties to reach a consensus as some parties were considering it as a constitutional matter.
Amid the controversy triggered by a remark by president Shahabuddin that he had no documentary evidence of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 resignation, the Student Movement Against Discrimination, which led the mass uprising that forced Hasina to resign and flee to India on August 5, on Tuesday pressed for a five-point charter of demands, including the resignation of the president.
Asked whether there was any legal way to remove the president in the absence of the parliament, Rizwana, also a Supreme Court lawyer, said that they were not considering it as a legal or constitutional matter.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, however, on Wednesday conveyed the government that the office of the president was a constitutional one and his resignation would create a constitutional vacuum and a state crisis.
Responding to a question, Rizwana said that none would like to hold the office amid an uncertainty as there was a growing demand for the president鈥檚 resignation.聽
Asked how much time it would require to reach a decision, she said that there was no scope to make any delay in this regard.聽
About the demand for banning Awami League, the chief adviser鈥檚 special assistant Mahfuj Alam said that they had banned AL-backed student body Bangladesh Chhatra League considering the safety of the people and demand for banning the Awami League was a matter of a wider political dialogue.
About the reform of the constitution, he said that the commission would prepare its recommendation on the basis of opinions from all political parties.
Mahfuj, however, alerted journalists against publicity of the banned BCL and called for a responsible role.聽
The Student Movement Against Discrimination and the Jatiya Nagarik Committee on Wednesday jointly called for a national unity for the removal of the president and the cancellation of the constitution, while a small group on the day demonstrated in front of the Bangabhaban, office-cum-residence of the president.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, however, said that it was not in favour of the president鈥檚 removal at this time as it could delay the democratic transition as well as the national election.
BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed spoke about his party鈥檚 position on the matter following a meeting with the chief adviser Wednesday afternoon.
Contradicting the BNP statement that the removal of the president at this moment would trigger political and constitutional crises, Jatiya Nagarik Committee convener Muhammad Nasiruddin Patwary said that political crisis would rather occur if the president continued holding office.
Branding the 1972 constitution as the Awami constitution, he stressed the formulation of a new constitution that would reflect people鈥檚 true aspirations.
The five-point demand from the Student Movement Against Discrimination is the charter for transforming the mass uprising to revolution, said its convener Hasnat Abdullah.
Some protesters on Tuesday tried to intrude the Bangabhaban premises by breaking security barricades, prompting the law enforcement personnel to explode sound grenades.
On Wednesday, law enforcement agencies, particularly the Bangladesh Army and the Armed Police Battalion, beefed up Bangabhaban鈥檚 security with several groups seen demonstrating near the entrance for the second day, demanding the president鈥檚 removal.聽
The five-point demand includes immediate repeal of the constitution and formulation of a new constitution in the context of the 2024 mass uprising, ban of Chhatra League for life as a 鈥榯errorist organisation鈥�, resignation of president Shahabuddin by this week, 鈥楶roclamation of the Republic鈥� in the light of the 鈥楯uly Revolution鈥� within this week, Declaration of the 10th, 11th and 12th parliamentary elections of 2014, 2018 and 2024 respectively as illegal and confiscation of the assets of those elected in these three elections and banning them for life from contesting in any elections.