President Mohammed Shahabuddin today (Oct 21) said a Supreme Court order, which acknowledges Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as prime minister, has already settled the matter.

He also urged all to avoid troubling the interim government with renewed controversy on the issue.

The president made the remarks in a statement issued in the evening, following criticisms leveled against him by the law adviser, and students, who led the toppling of Hasina in a bloody July-August uprising.

Law adviser Asif Nazrul had questioned the legality of Shahabuddin holding on to his position after making contradictory statements. On 5 August, in a televised address, the president told the nation that Sheikh Hasina had resigned as prime minister and he had accepted the resignation.

In an interview published on a national daily on Sunday, the president apparently went back on his claim saying he cannot find the resignation letter and that he had only “heard” of Hasina’s resignation.

Some media reports over the Shahabuddin’s statement have stirred confusions among general people, the president claimed in his Monday statement referring to Appellate Division’s 8 August order to clear confusions over the issue.

The president himself had sought the apex court’s opinion over the issue in keeping with Section 106 of the constitution, he said. 

BDST: 2056 HRS, OCT 21, 2024
MSK