Bangladesh president accuses Yunus of sidelining presidency and plotting unconstitutional ouster
Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin has accused former interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus of systematically sidelining the presidency and attempting to remove him from office through unconstitutional means during the 18‑month caretaker administration. In an interview with Bengali daily Kaler Kantho, Shahabuddin said Yunus repeatedly violated constitutional provisions, cut off mandated communication with the head of state and tried to erase the presidency’s role both at home and abroad.
Shahabuddin alleged that throughout Yunus’s tenure he was kept in the dark about key decisions, including major foreign policy moves, ordinances and international agreements. He claimed the former chief adviser undertook around 14 to 15 overseas trips without providing any verbal or written briefing upon his return, which the president described as a clear breach of the constitution’s requirement that the government regularly consult the head of state on foreign visits and state business. The president also said he was not informed about a Bangladesh–United States trade agreement signed just days before the general election, despite considering such a deal a matter that must be communicated to the presidency as part of its constitutional oversight role.
According to Shahabuddin, his own international activity was also restricted without his consent. He recounted how invitations for official visits, including planned trips to Kosovo and Qatar, were declined in his name by officials under Yunus, who drafted letters saying the president was too busy with state affairs to travel without consulting him beforehand. Shahabuddin said those decisions contributed to what he described as a deliberate effort to remove him from public view and minimise the presidency’s visibility during the interim period.
The president further alleged that attempts were made from within the interim administration to replace him outright. He said there was a plan to install a former chief justice in his place, but the judge refused, citing constitutional constraints and the need to preserve legal order. Shahabuddin also recalled a night when protesters gathered outside the presidential complex at Bangabhaban calling for his resignation, describing it as a moment when a mob appeared to be mobilised in an effort to overrun the residence.
Shahabuddin credited the armed forces and the chiefs of the three services with blocking any move to depose him or create a constitutional vacuum. He said military leaders told both him and the head of the interim government that they would not allow any unconstitutional action against the sitting president, stressing that the removal of the supreme commander of the armed forces in such a manner would amount to a defeat for the military itself. During the protest outside Bangabhaban, he added, the army maintained the same stance and ensured that the presidential office remained intact.
The interview sheds light on deep institutional tensions that marked the interim period following the July 2024 student‑led uprising, which culminated in the resignation and flight of longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the formation of a caretaker government headed by Yunus. Shahabuddin said he often felt isolated and humiliated as the constitutional head of state, but noted that senior leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, whose alliance later won the snap elections, assured him they supported maintaining constitutional continuity and opposed any extra‑legal move to unseat him. Yunus has so far not issued a detailed public response to the president’s latest accusations, which his supporters have previously rejected as politically motivated.
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