Muhammad Yunus did not follow the constitution, kept me in the dark, says Bangladesh President Shahabuddin

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin slammed Muhammad Yunus, who headed the country’s interim administration after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024 till the February elections, saying he “did not follow the country’s constitution”.

In an interview to Bangladesh newspaper Kaaler Kantho, Mr. Shahabuddin revealed a stark picture of the chaos that unfolded in the country during the interim government’s rule saying that the Yunus administration did not brief him about important decisions, including the trade agreement between Bangladesh and the United States that was announced a few days before the election.

Mr. Shahabuddin recalled the 18 months of the Yunus administration and said that there were attempts to “destroy the law and order situation in the country and create a constitutional crisis”.

The President said the Yunus administration did not consult him while issuing orders. “The constitution says that the chief advisor has to brief me after every foreign trip. But Dr. Yunus did not update me. The chief advisor has to inform me in writing about the talks and discussions that happen overseas. He went abroad some 14 or 15 times, but he never met me after those trips,” he said.

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The President said Mr. Yunus did not take him into confidence even when the U.S.-Bangladesh deal was signed. “I should have been briefed when the deal was signed… It is a constitutional mandate. But he (Mr. Yunus) did not do that, neither verbally nor in writing.”

On August 8, 2024, Mr. Shahabuddin administered Mr. Yunus, a Nobel laureate, the oath of office as the interim government’s chief advisor. The President said he had played a key role in making Mr. Yunus the chief advisor after the fall of the Hasina government. “I took the initiative to form the interim government. But there was no coordination from the chief advisor’s side after that. He never came to meet me, and kept me in the dark,” he said.

Referring to the protests outside Bangabhaban, the President’s residence and office, on October 22, 2024, Mr. Shahabuddin alleged that there were “conspiracies to depose him”.

“I was resolute and did not let any conspiracy succeed, especially the unconstitutional attempts to remove the President from office,” he said. Mr. Shahabuddin said the 18 months he spent at Bangabhaban when Mr. Yunus was in charge did not give him a good experience. “There was a storm upon me. I don’t know if anyone else would have weathered it,” he said.

He said he never got a call from Mr. Yunus after the protests. “He never had any stance for or against me. And I never reached out to him for any support,” he said.

The President said it was Bangladesh National Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman, who became Prime Minister on February 17 after winning a landmark election, who stood by him. “The BNP leadership assured me and said that I must ensure constitutional continuity in the country. The armed forces also stood by me.”

He said Mr. Rahman, about whom he was “curious”, was “so cordial” to him.

The President also alleged that Yunus administration deliberately kept him on the sidelines and stopped him from travelling abroad on two occasions. Referring to an invitation from Qatar, he said that the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry wrote a letter without consulting him. “The letter said that the ‘President is busy with national duty and will not be able to travel to Qatar’. I was asked to sign that letter,” he said.

Mr. Shahabuddin said the interim administration did not want him in the limelight and prevented him from attending events within Bangladesh too, even university convocations typically attended by the President.

Citing an attempt to denigrate the President’s office, he said that the Yunus administration removed portraits of the President from consulates and high commissions of Bangladesh across the world. “The President represents the country and it is a custom to display his portrait. The administration ended decades-long customs in one night,” he said.