Bangladesh parties at loggerheads over President

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA, FEB. 1. Political circles here are once again rife with speculation that the President, Mr.Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed has submitted his resignation.

The Opposition alliance led by the former Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia has already taken up the issue, accusing the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina of conspiring against the President so that he resigned and a ruling partyman could be made President instead. But the Government has questioned the intention of the Opposition in raising the issue of the President's reported resignation. The President's office has not issued any statement thus far. The ruling party has also accused the Opposition and some newspapers of trying to create a conflict between the President and the Prime Minister.

Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday pulled up a daily for asking a provocative question at a recent news conference about the President's reported decision to resign and then picking up the issue to say that the Government was trying to ease out Justice Shahabuddin. ``What kind of journalism is it,'' Sheikh Hasina asked.

Begum Khaleda Zia has appealed to Justice Shahabuddin not to resign, even assuring him that he will be made President for a second tenure if her alliance wins in the coming general elections. Winding up her speech in Parliament yesterday, Sheikh Hasina ridiculed Begum Khaleda's ``sudden love'' for the President, and said the Opposition leader was now shedding ``crocodile tears'' for the President, whose candidacy the Opposition had vehemently opposed even going to the extent of filing a case against his election. Explaining her position in the face of the mounting criticism over the issue, she said it was her Awami League M.P.s who had elected Justice Shahabuddin, a neutral person, to the office sacrificing party interests.

``What else I could reply, if it is his (President's) decision? Did the questioner want me to get nervous,'' Sheikh Hasina asked, referring to the editorial comments of a daily appealing to the President not to resign in the face of provocation. Sheikh Hasina also saw the Opposition's move as a conspiracy ahead of the forthcoming general election and she urged the people to foil any ``crooked design by vested quarters'' to grab power by inciting disorder and anarchy.

There was more controversy when two High Court judges were elevated to the Appellate Division, reportedly superseding their seniors. Leading lawyer sympathisers of the Opposition staged an unruly demonstration in front of the chamber of the Chief Justice blocking court proceedings for hours. The Opposition lawyers, including some ex-Ministers of the previous BNP Government, also appealed to the President to reverse the appointments. But the Prime Minister has refused to bow to the pressure, saying the judges were appointed as per the Constitution and ``any amount of vandalism in the highest judiciary'' would not change the legal decision.

If the President decides to overturn the decision of the Government, there will not be a constitutional crisis.

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