Yunus Wanted To Create Constitutional Vacuum, Destroy Peace & Order: Bangladesh President's Big Charge

New Delhi: In an explosive claim days after Tarique Rehman took over the reins of the new government in Bangladesh, the country's president Mohammed Shahabuddin, brought upon a glaring allegation against the nation's former chief adviser Mohammad Yunus, saying that he was made a palace prisoner in the past one and a half years and the Nobel Laureate had even conspired against him to remove him from office to create a constitutional vacuum.

In an interview with Kaler Kantho, a Bangladeshi Bengali daily, Shahabuddin alleged that attempts were made to destabilise the South Asian country and create a constitutional vacuum.

"During those one and a half years, I have not been in any discussion, yet various conspiracies are being hatched against me. There have been many attempts to permanently destroy the peace and order of the country and create a constitutional vacuum," he said in the interview given at his official residence in Dhaka, the Bangabhaban.

Shahabuddin even claimed that “at one point, even a conspiracy was made to bring a former chief justice and seat him in my place through unconstitutional means.”

Not Briefed About Matters Related To State

The President even claimed that Yunus did not maintain constitutionally required communication with him and was not informed about foreign visits or briefed on domestic matters.

"The chief adviser did not follow any provision of the constitution. Whenever he went abroad, he was supposed to meet the president after returning and inform me in writing about the outcomes. He travelled abroad 14 to 15 times, but not once did he inform me. He never came to see me," he said.

Shahabuddin alleged that two of his planned foreign visits, to Kosovo and Qatar, were blocked by Yunus.

133 Ordinances

In response to a question on whether he was consulted on the issuance of 133 ordinances during the period the Interim government was in place, Shahabuddin said that there was no justification for issuing so many ordinances, though some of them may have been necessary. 

No Knowlegde of US-Bangladesh Agreement

The President even claimed that he had no knowledge of the last agreement concluded with the United States by the Yunus government before the elections.

"No, I do not know anything. Such a state agreement should have been informed to me. Be it small or big, of course, the previous heads of government informed the President. And this is a constitutional obligation. But he did not do it. He did not inform me verbally nor in writing. He didn't come. And he was supposed to come anyway!" he said.

Maintaining Constitutional Continuity

Shahabuddin, however, thanked the Bangladeshi Army and ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for helping him maintain constitutional continuity. He shared that the chiefs of the three services had told him, "You are the supreme commander of the armed forces. Your defeat means the defeat of the entire armed forces. We will prevent that at any cost."

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