Seek SC’s opinion for removing president

Two political parties yesterday suggested seeking the Supreme Court’s opinion for removal of President Mohammed Shahabuddin from office.
In their discussions with the delegations from the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement and Jatiya Nagorik Committee, leaders of the Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party and Gono Odhikar Parishad (Kibria-Faruk faction) made the suggestion.
However, Ganatantra Mancha, an alliance of six political parties, told the student leaders that it would not be wise to take any decision in this regard excluding any political party that was part of the mass uprising.
In the first meeting of the day, the AB Party leaders suggested sending a reference to the Supreme Court for advice on the removal of the president, as they believe that if the president is not removed or if he does not resign from office, it may cause a great national crisis.
They made the remark during the discussion held at the AB Party’s central office in Bijoynagar in the capital.
“We see both the prime minister and the president as illegitimate. Just as the parliament is illegitimate, so is the president elected by that parliament. It was necessary for the interim government to be sworn in under this president due to the exceptional circumstances, when all political and student leaders were present,” Mujibur Rahman, member secretary of AB party, told reporters after the discussion.
Asked whether a constitutional crisis would arise if the president resigned or was removed, he called it a valid question. “That is why, we clearly suggested that a reference be sent to the Supreme Court for guidance on the matter.”
Mentioning how the Chief Advisor Dr Muhammad Yunus and the advisory council took their oaths based on the Supreme Court’s opinion after sending a reference, he said, “A similar reference under Article 106 of the Constitution could be sought regarding the issue of the president’s removal for a resolution. We believe this would avoid any constitutional crisis or vacuum.”
Nagorik Committee representative Arif Sohel mentioned that they had a positive discussion with the AB Party, which supports the president’s resignation.
Both parties present at the discussion agreed that a “proclamation of republic,” could be issued to recognise the July mass uprising and challenge the legitimacy of the past three elections under the Awami League.
Meanwhile, the Kibria-Faruk faction led by Reza Kibria of the Gono Odhikar Parishad also made similar suggestions.
“Since the government is now operating as per the constitutional framework, we have to proceed as per the Article 106 of the Constitution. We have no other option right now,” Faruk Hasan, member secretary of the party, told The Daily Star.
They also agreed with the demand seeking the president’s removal and opined that it should be done immediately.
“We have discussed three issues — removal of the president, scrapping of the 1972 constitution, and challenging the last three national elections under AL government. We have agreed on all the issues with the student leaders. However, regarding the president’s removal, we told them to follow a systemic procedure so that no crisis is created centring the issue,” said Faruk.
At the meeting between the partners of the Ganatantra Mancha and the student leaders, the alliance partners said that a decision should be reached based on a national consensus and consider the “extra-constitutional” situation that may arise following the removal.
“We told them that any decision in this regard should be reached based on a national consensus and not excluding any party that has been active in the movement against the Awami League. However, we think that the president has no right to be in the post and should resign immediately,” Saiful Huq, general secretary of the Revolutionary Workers’ Party told this newspaper.
In regards to challenging the last three national elections, the alliance partners advised further discussions, saying such a decision may lead to technical issues.