Since Bangladesh’s independence, the presidency has been rocked by assassinations, coups, constitutional overhauls, uprisings and political crises.
Of the 18 individuals who have served as president to date, whether in a full-fledged, acting or in-charge capacity, 10 have seen their tenures end prematurely.
Among them, two were assassinated while in office, while eight either resigned or were removed amid changing political circumstances.
With the resignation of Mohammed Shahabuddin today, he became the eighth president to resign or be ousted from Bangabhaban, according to Bangabhaban sources and media reports.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman were both assassinated while serving as president. In both cases, factions within the armed forces were responsible for their killings.
During the Liberation War, the Mujibnagar Government took oath with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the country’s founding president, with effect from March 26, 1971. As he was imprisoned in Pakistan, Syed Nazrul Islam was appointed acting president.
Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury became president on January 12, 1972, and was re-elected on April 10, 1973. He resigned in December that year to become special envoy for external relations with the rank of a minister.
Following his resignation, Speaker Mohammadullah became acting president on December 24, 1973. He assumed office as full-fledged president on January 27, 1974, and served until Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to the presidency in January 1975 following the formation of BaKSAL.
The move marked Bangladesh’s first transition from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential form of government.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated on August 15, 1975. Following his assassination, Khandker Mustaque Ahmad became president. He was removed from office in November 1975, after which Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem was appointed president.
Sayem resigned on April 21, 1977, and Ziaur Rahman assumed the presidency.
Ziaur Rahman served twice as president until his assassination on May 30, 1981. In February 1978, he became the country’s first directly elected president.
Following his assassination in Chattogram, Abdus Sattar became acting president and was later elected president in 1981.
His tenure ended after army chief Hussein Muhammad Ershad seized power in a coup on March 24, 1982.
Ershad declared himself Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) and installed Justice Abul Fazal Mohammad Ahsanuddin Choudhury as president, who served from March 27, 1982, to December 11, 1983.
Ershad assumed the presidency on December 11, 1983, and was elected to a five-year term in October 1986 as the nominee of the Jatiya Party, which he had founded the same year.
He was forced to step down on December 6, 1990, amid a sustained combined opposition movement against his rule.
Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed was then appointed vice president to facilitate Ershad’s resignation. He subsequently became acting president and headed the interim government until October 10, 1990.
Bangladesh returned to the parliamentary system in August 1991.
Former BNP cabinet member Abdur Rahman Biswas was elected president through an indirect election and remained in office until October 1996.
Shahabuddin Ahmed was later elected president with the support of the Awami League government. He took oath on October 9, 1996, and retired on November 14, 2001.
BNP founding secretary general AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury was sworn in as president on November 14, 2001. He resigned on June 21, 2002, after the ruling party, led by then prime minister Khaleda Zia, asked him to step down following a loss of confidence among party lawmakers.
BNP also criticised him for not visiting the grave of party founder Ziaur Rahman on his death anniversary.
Following his resignation, Speaker Barrister Mohammad Jamiruddin Sircar served as president-in-charge from June 21 to September 6, 2002.
With BNP support, Prof Iajuddin Ahmed took oath as president on September 6, 2002.
At the end of 2006, Iajuddin assumed the office of chief adviser to the caretaker government. He later resigned as chief adviser after declaring a state of emergency on January 11, 2007, which suspended the parliamentary election scheduled for January 22. The following day, he installed a new caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed.
Although Iajuddin's presidential tenure expired on September 5, 2007, he remained in office until a new president was elected.
Veteran Awami League leader Zillur Rahman assumed office on February 12, 2009. He died on March 20, 2013, becoming the only president to die of natural causes while in office.
Following his death, then Speaker and fellow Awami League leader Abdul Hamid became president-in-charge. He assumed the role of acting president on March 20, 2013, and was later elected president with Awami League support for two consecutive terms. He served as head of state until April 23, 2023.
With Awami League backing, Mohammed Shahabuddin, the joint secretary of the Pabna district BaKSAL in 1975, was elected the country's 22nd president and assumed office on April 24, 2023.
However, his position had remained uncertain since August 5, 2024, when autocrat Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led mass uprising. Since then, speculation over his possible resignation or removal had persisted.
Ending months of speculation, Shahabuddin resigned today, citing various illnesses.
He was the only person still holding a top constitutional office from before the July 2024 mass uprising.
