Mohammed Shahabuddin’s recent statement that he did not receive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation letter is a lie, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said today(Monday), reports the Daily Star.
According to Asif Nazrul, the president’s statement is "self-contradictory" and "akin to a violation of his oath".
He said this in a press conference called in response to President Mohammad Shahabuddin's interview with Manab Zamin Chief Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, which was published in the daily's political magazine "Janatar Chokh" yesterday.
Nazrul read out a statement that referred to the president's address to the nation on August 5, hours after Hasina fled the country.
The president had said in that speech that the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina submitted her resignation letter to him.
Dr Nazrul also referred to the opinion sent by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, in response to a request made by the president in accordance with Article 106 of the constitution which gives advisory jurisdiction to the Supreme Court.
Asif Nazrul showed the reporters at the press conference the first line of the opinion, which read: "In the current situation of the country, as the prime minister has resigned…"
The adviser further stressed that the chief justice and judges of the Appellate Division had signed that opinion and that the president saw the opinion, received it and signed it as well.
Asif Nazrul doubts whether the current President is mentally fit to run the office.
"We know that the constitution says that if you don't have the physical or mental capacity, or if you commit a serious misconduct, then the constitution provides a scope to take steps about whether you can stay on as the president," he said.
"If you contradict something you have said yourself in front of the whole nation, then that is akin to misconduct. Then the question arises if he has the mental capacity to serve as the president. These questions may arise, he has created the scope for that."
He also said that if the president remains adamant about his statement, the advisory council of the interim government will discuss in a meeting whether Shahabuddin is qualified to remain in the position of president.
Asked if the government can produce the resignation letter and show it to the public, Asif Nazrul said, "If she resigned, she resigned to the president. It [resignation letter] is supposed to be at the president's office, and according to the constitution of Bangladesh, it cannot be questioned at any court. He [the president] himself said it was given to him, he received it ... now if he says it's not with him, then what he did with the resignation letter is something you will have to ask him."
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