Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin has resigned from office, citing deteriorating health, nearly two years before the scheduled end of his five-year tenure.
The 76-year-old president submitted his resignation to Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad on Friday, July 24, 2026, and the speaker accepted it.
Shahabuddin said medical examinations had diagnosed him with autonomic neuropathy, a condition he said had occasionally caused brief episodes of loss of consciousness.
He also cited other health complications that had increasingly affected his ability to discharge the constitutional responsibilities of the presidency.
Hafiz Uddin Ahmad will perform the functions of the presidency until a successor is elected. The Constitution requires a new president to be elected within 90 days.
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Shahabuddin’s resignation came amid growing opposition demands for his removal and controversy over reports of an alleged telephone conversation with ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during his medical trip to the United Kingdom in May. The president denied the report.
Shahabuddin travelled to London on May 9 and returned to Bangladesh on May 18.
Hasina has remained in India since her government was toppled in August 2024 following a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule.
Shahabuddin, who was elected president in April 2023, was expected to remain in office until 2028.
His resignation now opens another chapter in Bangladesh’s turbulent political transition, with Hafiz Uddin Ahmad assuming the interim presidential duties as the country prepares to elect a new head of state amid the continuing fallout from the upheaval that ended Hasina’s long rule.