BNP staves off bid to remove Bangladesh president, warns of national crisis

DHAKA: After their successful collaboration in getting ex-PM Sheikh Hasina dislodged,

Bangladesh National Party

and the student outfits appear to have fallen out over the continuation of

President Mohammed Shahabuddin

, with the former thwarting an attempt to remove him.
BNP leadership, it is learnt, foiled a push to get the President to quit, stressing that such a move would create a constitutional and national crisis.

However, the students represented by

Nahid Islam

, I&B adviser in the

interim government

, who became the face of the

student protests

, said the issue has not been closed and talks were underway.
"It (the presidency) is the highest constitutional position. It is also an institution," BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, a day after Dhaka erupted with student-led protests demanding Shahabuddin's resignation over his purported statement that there was no "documentary evidence" of Hasina having officially resigned. "The nation does not expect a constitutional or political crisis from such actions (as the president's removal or resignation," Ahmed said, alluding to reports of the interim government being on a collision course with the president.
BNP standing committee members met the interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus after the overnight demonstrations outside the presidential residence. Government forces baton-charged protesters after they pulled down barricades in a bid to storm the compound, reminiscent of the uprising that toppled the erstwhile

Awami League

government on Aug 5.

Yunus's press secretary Shafiqul Alam described the hurriedly convened meeting with the BNP delegation at the state guesthouse Jamuna "a part of the ongoing

political dialogue

", seeking to contest the notion that the discussion was focused on the gathering storm surrounding the presidency and early elections. I&B adviser Nahid Islam said a decision regarding the President could be reached through political consensus instead of taking recourse to legal or constitutional procedures. "Whether the president remains in office or not is not currently a legal or constitutional question. It is a political decision."
However, the newly formed four-member convening committee of the anti-discrimination student movement, led by coordinator

Hasnat Abdullah

, said their stand on President Shahabuddin's removal and rewriting the constitution remained unchanged. Sources said there was a clear division among the student coordinators, with one group part of the interim government and the other hitting the streets again to demand a presidential change.