Presidency in the shadows: Shahabuddin’s survival in Yunus era

During the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus, President Mohammed Shahabuddin found himself in circumstances no predecessor had encountered.

Unlike Abdur Rahman Biswas, Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, or Iajuddin Ahmed—all of whom served during constitutionally sanctioned caretaker periods—Mohammed Shahabuddin presided over an interim regime born of political upheaval after the July 2024 uprising that ousted Sheikh Hasina.

A president in isolation

Shahabuddin's fate first seemed precarious when an angry crowd gathered outside Bangabhaban (the office cum residence of the president) demanding his resignation two months after the regime change. Subsequently, his press wing was dismantled. He skipped the National Eidgah prayer. For weeks, he vanished from public view, confined within the presidential compound.

Elected in April 2023 with backing from the then-ruling Awami League, Shahabuddin appeared politically stranded after 5 August. His first public re-emergence came months later when he visited his country home at Pabna last November. Following the 12 February election, he resurfaced on 17 February at the South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban to administer the oath to the new Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

In an interview with the national daily Kaler Kantha, he alleged there had been an internal move within the interim government to remove him and replace him with a former chief justice—an effort that ultimately failed.

The constitutional paradox

Bangladesh's caretaker framework, introduced through the 13th Amendment in 1996, had once elevated the presidency. During caretaker periods, the non-partisan administration was collectively accountable to the president, who wielded sweeping authority—particularly over the armed forces.

Although the amendment was repealed in 2011 under Hasina's government, it was revived by the apex court in November last year. Constitutionally, a caretaker government is barred from policy decisions except in necessity and must confine itself to routine functions, chiefly assisting the Election Commission in holding credible polls.

When a non-partisan caretaker government assumed office following the introduction of the makeshift administration into the Constitution in 1996, the president would emerge with sweeping constitutional authority and become "the most powerful president" during the interim period, as the 13th Amendment granted him such powers. Without any ambiguity, the constitutional provision made the non-partisan administration collectively responsible to the president.

That amendment also brought sweeping change in administering the defence services—army, air force and navy. The military service has been taken out of the purview of the interim government and has been placed in the hands of the president to be regulated by law.

The 13th amendment restricts the functions and jurisdictions of the interim administration.  

Critics say they had all become the "prime minister's men" after being elected president. But none of them faced an extraordinary situation like President Muhammed Shahabuddin. The distinction between the office—the presidency—and the officeholder—Muhammed Shahabuddin—has been significantly blurred during the interim government due to its two-pronged strategy: "institutional elevation and personal elimination."

According to the constitution, the non-partisan caretaker "shall discharge its functions as an interim government and shall carry out routine functions and except in the case of necessity for the discharge of such functions it shall not make any policy decision."

Its most important function is to give the Election Commission all possible aid and assistance that may be required for holding parliamentary elections peacefully, fairly and impartially.

Three non-partisan governments were formed in Bangladesh's political history. The first one was formed in March 1996 immediately after the constitution's 13th amendment amid growing political crisis. Former chief justice Habibur Rahman was appointed as its chief. The seventh parliamentary election was held in June the same year. At that time, Abdur Rahman Biswas was the president. He was elected by the BNP in the fifth parliament formed in 1991.

The second non-partisan caretaker government was formed led by former chief justice Latifur Rahman in July 2001. The eighth parliamentary election was held in October the same year. At that time Justice Shahabuddin was the president who was elected in the seventh parliament on nomination by then ruling party Awami League.

But things got complicated amid a political crisis at the end of October 2006 and then president Iajuddin Ahmed himself assumed the office of the chief adviser in addition to the presidency. The political crisis deepened and Iajuddin was forced to resign. He declared a state of emergency on the night of 11 January. The Ninth parliamentary election scheduled for 22 January 2007 was postponed.

Next day, 12 January, the former Bangladesh Bank governor assumed the office of the chief advisor. His government is known as an emergency regime backed by the armed forces. Its tenure came to an end following the December 2008 parliamentary election. Iajuddin however stayed in office until his successor was elected in the new parliament in February 2009.

After abolishing the caretaker government system, Sheikh Hasina held three sham elections until she was ousted.

In an extraordinary situation, Muhammad Yunus assumed the office of the chief adviser. The Yunus-led arrangement was different. The office of chief adviser did not formally exist in the Constitution at the time he assumed charge; it was legitimised through Supreme Court opinion. Unlike his predecessors in caretaker governments. Yunus operated without the clear structural constraints envisioned in 1996. He however was sworn in as the CA and formed his council of advisers based on the Supreme Court opinion.

When Yunus took the charge as the head of the interim government, his hands were not tied like the previous heads of the makeshift administration unlike Justice Habibur Rahman and Justice Latifur Rahman.  

The political changeover placed President Shahabuddin in an extraordinary and unique situation. None of his predecessors--Abdur Rahman Biswas or Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed or even Prof Iajuddin Ahmed who were in office during the interim government period—faced such a unique situation.

Two-pronged masterstroke

Here lies the paradox.

The interim administration publicly championed constitutional reform to "rebalance" executive power—curbing prime ministerial dominance and strengthening the presidency as a safeguard against authoritarian relapse. The rhetoric framed it as democratic correction, even innovation.

Yet simultaneously, Shahabuddin was rendered invisible.

Yunus never publicly met him at Bangabhaban after assuming office. The president disappeared from civic life. And yet, the interim government relied heavily on presidential ordinances to govern—promulgating a record 133 laws in 18 months.

In retrospect, Shahabuddin himself has questioned that phase. In his interview, he suggested that many ordinances lacked constitutional necessity and that the former chief adviser had not adhered strictly to constitutional requirements.

The question lingers: if he believed this, why did he assent?

Constitutionally, the president takes precedence over all other citizens in Bangladesh.

Explaining the enormous significance of this office, constitutional experts portray him as a symbol of the nation who represents it but does not rule it.

But records portray an abysmal past of the office of the president because of the failure of most of the individuals who were elected to the office at Bangabhaban.

Except for Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, all other presidents elected by the parties in power since the restoration of parliamentary democracy after the ouster of autocratic ruler Gen Ershad in December 1990, unfortunately could not maintain the sanctity of the office they held.

Critics say they had all become the "prime minister's men" after being elected president.

But none of the presidents faced the extraordinary situation like President Muhammed Shahabuddin.  

The distinction between the office—the presidency—and the office holder—Muhammed Shahabuddin—has significantly been blurred during the interim government because of its two-pronged strategy—"institutional elevation and personal elimination."

Political analysts say the politics the Yunus led interim government pursued was far more ruthless. For the first time in Bangladesh's caretaker history, the president was both indispensable and dispensable—constitutionally central, politically peripheral.

However, the armed forces stood firm during those turbulent days marked by deep uncertainty. The president stated that he received the highest level of support from them during that period.

"They told me only one thing: 'Your Excellency, you are the supreme commander of the armed forces. Your defeat would mean the defeat of the entire armed forces. We will prevent that at any cost.' In the end, they did exactly that. They came to me at different times and boosted my morale," the president said in the interview.

While describing what happened on 22 October 2024, when a mob gathered in front of his official residence, Bangabhaban, the President recalled that it was members of the armed forces who stood like a wall in front of the rowdy protesters to protect their supreme commander.

Shahabuddin continues as president of the republic, and his survival in office is widely believed to have averted further political uncertainty, constitutional vacuum, and chaos.