DHAKA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladesh National Parliament Secretariat confirmed to the media on Friday that Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad has begun discharging the functions of the president in accordance with the Constitution following the resignation of Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu.
Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu (1st L, Front) takes the oath of office as Bangladeshi president with Bangladeshi Parliament speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury (1st R, Front) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 24, 2023. (Photo: Xinhua)
Speaking to Xinhua, Md Sarwar Alam, press secretary to the president, confirmed that Shahabuddin had submitted his signed resignation letter to the speaker, citing serious illness.
Under the Bangladeshi Constitution, the speaker shall discharge the functions of the president until a new head of state is elected.
"President Mohammed Shahabuddin submitted his signed resignation letter to me on Friday. Following his resignation, I have begun discharging the functions of the president in accordance with the Constitution," Ahmad said at a press conference in Dhaka.
"I am seriously ill. I suffer from heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney complications. I have undergone heart bypass surgery. A recent medical examination also diagnosed me with a condition called autonomic neuropathy. Because of this condition, I sometimes briefly lose consciousness," Shahabuddin said in his resignation letter.
"Owing to the physical and mental incapacity caused by these illnesses, I am unable to perform the duties of such an important constitutional office as the presidency. I require long-term medical treatment," he added.
Ahmad said the oath he took upon becoming speaker also covered the discharge of presidential duties whenever required. He stressed that the constitutional arrangement ensured there would be no vacuum in the discharge of presidential functions.
Shahabuddin, a retired judge and former commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission, took office as Bangladesh's 22nd president in April 2023.