Bangladesh President Mohammad Shahabuddin is likely to resign nearly two years before the end of his five-year term, according to political sources and media reports, amid growing speculation that the government is no longer comfortable with his continuation in office.
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“It is likely that he (Shahabuddin) will resign soon,” a senior leader of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) told PTI without further elaboration.
Speculation over Shahabuddin's resignation has intensified over the past two days after several Bangladeshi media outlets reported that the government was considering a change in the presidency. Shahabuddin is the only constitutional office-holder from the previous Awami League administration who has remained in office since the July-August 2024 student-led uprising that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina's government. Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024, where she has remained since.
Newspaper Prothom Alo, quoting a high-level government source, reported that the government was unhappy over reports that Shahabuddin had recently attempted to re-establish contact with Hasina.
A senior BNP leader also told The Daily Star that a recently reported telephone conversation between Shahabuddin and Hasina was not the sole reason behind the expected resignation. The leader said the issue was "more complex", particularly as Bangladesh's political climate has become more sensitive following Hasina's announcement that she plans to return to the country.
Earlier this month, Hasina said she would return to Bangladesh in December. The Bangladesh government said it "welcomed" her decision to return but asserted that she must face justice.
On November 17, 2025, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) sentenced Hasina and her former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia for their superior role in suppressing the protests that are now referred to as the "July Uprising".
A 1971 Liberation War veteran and former lower judiciary judge, Shahabuddin assumed office in April 2023 for a five-year term.
Under the Bangladesh Constitution, if the president resigns, Parliamentary Speaker Hafizuddin Ahmed will serve as interim president until a new head of state is elected.
The ICT-BD was established in 2010 by the Hasina-led government to prosecute collaborators of Pakistani forces during Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War. Following Hasina's ouster, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration amended the tribunal's law to allow it to prosecute leaders and officials of the former Awami League government on charges of crimes against humanity.
