DHAKA, 22 June — Within seven months of his election to the highest office of the republic as a nominee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led ruling four-party alliance, President A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury tendered his resignation to Parliament Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar yesterday following an unprecedented resolution of no-confidence by the BNP parliamentary party.
Chowdhury resigned after BNP accused him of taking an anti-party line and said it had lost confidence in him. "I resign the post as requested by the BNP parliamentary party...," Chowdhury said in a letter to Sircar, which was read to media by Parliament officials. The resignation was effective immediately.
Chowdhury resigned after the BNP parliamentary party, headed by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, on Thursday asked him to quit immediately as lawmakers had lost confidence in him. Sircar will act as interim president until a new one is elected within 90 days, as required by the constitution. Chowdhury was elected president uncontested for a five-year term in November last year after being nominated by BNP alliance came to power after winning an October general election.
The main opposition Bangladesh Awami League criticized BNP for asking a president who had not violated any provision of the constitution, to resign. "It is undemocratic and unjustified to ask an incumbent president trying to act neutrally to resign," Tofael Ahmed, a former minister and leader of the Awami League told reporters. Attorney General Hassan Arif said: "By requesting the president to resign the BNP had neither violated the constitution nor democratic norms of the country. The president has rather honored democracy by abiding by the decision of the party."
