DHAKA: Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin faced growing pressure Monday to quit from leaders of the revolution that toppled autocratic ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August, who argue he was her appointee. Shahabuddin, 74, widely known as “Chuppu”, was elected by parliament in 2023 by Hasina’s now ousted Awami League, but while the post is largely ceremonial, his potential removal from the role has sparked fears of a constitutional vacuum.

“Any decision regarding the removal of the president will be based on political consensus,” Shafiqul Alam, press advisor to the interim government that replaced Hasina, said on Monday.

The interim government is led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus as its “chief adviser”. Government spokeswoman Syeda Rizwana Hasan, a minister in Yunus’s cabinet, said there is “an ongoing discussion regarding the removal” of Shahabuddin. “It must be considered whether a government formed after a revolution should retain a president who was selected by a fascist government,” Hasan told reporters on Sunday.

“The demand for his removal stems from claims that he does not align with the spirit of the movement.” Earlier this month Shahabuddin sparked furious protests after he said he had never seen a resignation letter from Hasina—raising the prospect her departure was unlawful.

Soon after, Asif Nazrul, a student protest leader now serving in Yunus’s government, charged that the comments were a “violation of his oath of office”. Last week, police clashed with a crowd of hundreds who tried to storm the presidential compound, leaving 30 officers and protesters injured.

But those pushing for his removal face constitutional hurdles. To impeach the president requires a two-thirds vote by parliament, with the speaker then assuming the post. Parliament however was suspended following Hasina’s ouster, meaning the process to remove a president—and who would choose his successor—is open to question. “If we want to make the most of this uprising, we should not be guided by whims that may create a constitutional vacuum,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said.

Hasnat Abdullah, convener of Students Against Discrimination, the protest group credited with sparking the uprising against Hasina, demanded a swift decision. “We don’t want this situation to linger,” he said, claiming only the BNP opposed removing him.

Meanwhile, the once luxurious palace of Bangladesh’s autocratic ex-leader Sheikh Hasina will become a museum to honor the revolution that ousted her, the leader of the caretaker government said Monday. “The museum should preserve memories of her misrule and the people’s anger when they removed her from power,” Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus said as he toured the battered Ganabhaban palace, the former official residence of the prime minister.

The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer was appointed the country’s “chief advisor” after the student-led uprising that forced Hasina to flee by helicopter to India on August 5.

Hasina’s 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents, and a Bangladeshi court this month issued an arrest warrant for her arrest. More than 700 people were killed, many in a brutal police crackdown, before Hasina’s fall.

As she fled, thousands stormed her former residence, which the government said was a “symbol of repression”. The walls of the palace, looted and damaged in the chaos after Hasina escaped, are daubed with graffiti condemning her fallen regime. The museum will include a replica of the notorious “House of Mirrors” Aynaghar detention centre operated by Hasina’s regime—given its name because its detainees were never supposed to see any other person besides themselves.

“The Aynaghar should remind visitors of the torture endured by secret prisoners,” Yunus said. Hasina’s overthrow resulted in at least two days of chaos, which included the looting of a museum at the home of her father, Bangladesh’s first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Apurba Jahangir, a press official in the office of Yunus, said construction would start by December. “The museum construction hasn’t begun yet, but it will start soon,” Apurba told AFP.

Hasina has not been seen in public since fleeing Bangladesh. The 77-year-old’s last official whereabouts was a military airbase near India’s capital New Delhi. – AFP