President Md. Shahabuddin has said that if the ruling BNP wants him to fulfill his duties, he will stay; and if the BNP does not want him to, he will “resign with honor”.He made these comments in an interview given to the daily Kaler Kantho at Bangabhaban on Friday (February 20) night. The first part of the interview was published yesterday, and the last part was published today.
When asked about the foreign media’s comment that the president does not want to stay here after the election, he said, “This statement is being interpreted differently. The way I said it, it needs to be understood in that context. The way the interim government has put me under mental pressure in the last 18 months, and I have been humiliated in various incidents, has created a kind of anger in my mind. That’s when I said, the president cannot stay like this, he wants to leave.”
President Md. Shahabuddin said that the movement to overthrow the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, turned into a public explosion. On that day, no one could have imagined what was going to happen.
The President said, when the protesters were heading towards Ganabhaban, I was informed that the Prime Minister would come to Bangabhaban at any moment. At 12 noon, I was informed that he was preparing to come to Bangabhaban. Before that, we could not have guessed what was actually going to happen. But when he said he would come here and the helicopter was ready, then we could imagine the horror of the incident.
He said, “Everyone who was in security here took their positions. Around 12:30 pm, we were informed that he was not coming. When we found out that he was not coming, we were also alert. After a while, we heard that he had left the country. At some point, we found out that he had already left the country. All in all, within 30 to 40 minutes, we could see a very rapid change in the overall course of events.”
President Md. Shahabuddin said, “At around 3 pm that day, Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman first informed me of all the events over the telephone. I was also informed by the Armed Forces. Later, it was informed that Waqar Sahib would give a briefing to the journalists about the entire situation.”
He gave a briefing, we saw it on television. He said that the Prime Minister had left the country. So the countrymen were assured that he had already left. Then the Army Chief called me and told me that they were coming. The Chiefs of Army, Navy, and Air Force – all three came to Bangabhaban. They came and sat down with me to discuss the overall situation that had arisen.
The President said, “At that time, we were in a state of near confusion. We discussed what could be done, how and what would happen for about two to three hours. It was decided that the leaders of all political parties would be called. An army team was assigned for this task. Then they left. The leaders of the country’s political parties were gathered at the army headquarters. Some of the leaders of the anti-discrimination student movement were also there. Then they came to Bangabhaban with those they found. We sat in the meeting again. In this meeting at Bangabhaban, we gave utmost importance to the issue of peace and stability of the country. A long discussion was organized on how and what kind of decision can be taken to restore peace to the people of the country. The meeting was held under my chairmanship. The army chief presided over it. There, he explained the entire situation.
The President further said that several proposals were jointly made in that meeting. In particular, three main proposals were raised. These are – caretaker government, all-party or national government and interim government. No matter what name it is called, the goals and objectives will be the same. If we say caretaker government, it may sound like One-Eleven. On the other hand, if we say all-party or national government, it can also become a long-term government. So, after various considerations, our wise politicians decided that an interim government should be formed. This decision was made and the responsibility fell on me to address the nation and reassure the nation. And they will discuss everything among themselves and decide on the method of forming the government. After this decision was made, Professor Asif Nazrul presented the progress of the situation to the journalists. I had to give a speech at 11 pm. And the process of forming an interim government was left in their hands. The army and political leaders will do it after discussing. The army will be there, it will help in everything.