DHAKA, 6 September 2007 — Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed, who suspended elections and imposed emergency rule this year and whose five-year term expired yesterday, will continue as the head of state until an elected Parliament appoints a successor, an official said yesterday.
“This is quite in line with the constitution which says only an elected Parliament can appoint a president,” Mainul Husein, law and information adviser to the caretaker government, told reporters late Tuesday.
“As per the constitution, he has to continue until the election of his successor.” Iajuddin, 76, a former Dhaka University teacher, was appointed president on Sept. 5, 2002, by then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who ended her five-year tenure in October last year.
Although Bangladesh’s presidency is largely a figurehead post, Iajuddin is the constitutional head of the country’s Armed Forces.
After Khaleda stepped down, Iajuddin briefly took over as head of a caretaker government responsible for holding the next election. But he relinquished the job in favor of incumbent caretaker chief Fakhruddin Ahmed, a former central bank governor and the army’s choice.
Fakhruddin took charge in January this year. Since then, he has run the country with the army’s backing and under a state of emergency. The interim government canceled an election planned for Jan. 22 amid widespread political violence and a series of crippling strikes called by political parties.
Fakhruddin has pledged to hold a free and fair election before the end of next year, after his administration completes an anti-corruption drive.
Under the drive, former prime ministers Khaleda and her rival Hasina Wajed have been put into jail, pending trials for alleged corruption and abuse of power. More than 170 other top political figures, including Khaleda’s two sons, have also been detained.
Meanwhile, Khaleda’s party officials said her party is on the verge of splitting after partymen said her decision to sack two top aides was unacceptable.
Hours before her arrest, Khaleda sacked long-time party Secretary-General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and his deputy Ashraf Hossain, saying the two men had acted against the party’s interests. The charges referred to the two officials’ attempts in recent months to reform the BNP, which had been tightly controlled by Khaleda.
The reformers, backed by a large number of partymen, had sought to drastically reduce Khaleda’s powers.
“We will take our own stand and make the party fully democratic and its leadership accountable,” Hossain told reporters.
