Bottom Line
Tenure of the president
The president is elected by members of Parliament, and holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters office. The powers and functions of the president are described in Articles 48 to 54 in Part IV of the Constitution.
The current president, Prof. Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed, assumed office on September 5, 2002. Accordingly, his five-year term expires on September 5 this year.
During the tenure of a non-party caretaker government (CTG), the president is invested with additional powers that are not available when an elected government runs the administration.
The president appoints the chief adviser (head of the government), and the CTG is collectively responsible to the president. During this interim administration, the defence portfolio comes directly under the president. The president is the only elected person when the non-elected advisers of the CTG run the administration.
At this juncture, the office of the president is very important. Some argue that his continuity in office is needed.
The question is whether he can continue in office until his successor is elected.
The simple answer lies in the Constitution in Article 50. For ready reference the Article is quoted below:
"50 (1): Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the president shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office.
(2) Provided that notwithstanding the expiration of his term the president shall continue to hold office until his successor enters upon office."
The sub-clause 2 provides a significant phrase "notwithstanding the expiration of his term" the current president shall continue until his successor enters upon office; the successor shall be elected by members of parliament.
It is argued that since there is no parliament, the question of election of a new president does not arise, and the incumbent can continue as president.
It means that when the parliament is constituted after the election at the end of 2008, the members will be eligible to elect the president. Until that time, the president continues in his office.
Precedents
In Turkey, the term of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer expired last May, and he was supposed to have stepped down, but he still remains in office because his successor could not be elected. President Bush exercises his powers when he is overseas, and his presidential aircraft (Airforce One) becomes his office, a mini-White House. The vice-president does not take charge when the president is overseas. President Bush recently handed over charge to the vice-president for two hours when he went to hospital for colonoscopy under sedation. What about the speaker?
A question arises about whether the speaker can assume of the office of the acting president. Again, the Constitution is very clear in Article 54 about the circumstances under which the speaker can become acting president. Article 54 :"If a vacancy occurs in the office of the president, or if the president is unable to discharge the functions of his office on account of absence, illness, or any other cause, the speaker shall discharge those functions until a president is elected or until the president resumes the functions of his office, as the case may be." It is important to note that Article 54 speaks of the speaker "acting as president during his absence." That means that the office of the president must first fall vacant before Article 54 is invoked. If there is no vacancy of that high office, Article 54 cannot be applicable. For example, when the president went to Singapore in mid-July for a medical check up, the speaker did not automatically assume the office of acting president because there had been no vacancy in that high office. The president continued to discharge his functions. During these days of advanced communication technologies, such as e-mail and video-conferencing etc, there is arguably no need for the president to relinquish his powers even when he is overseas, so long as he is healthy enough to exercise his powers. The former prime ministers continued in their offices when they visited overseas. It is argued that the framers of the constitution thought it appropriate that there should not be any confusion or doubt about the continuity of the office of the president until his successor is duly elected, as specified in the Constitution. For continuity of the high office of the president, Article 50 (2) was inserted by the framers. There is no room for acting president because none of the conditions laid down in the Article 54 exists. Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.
In Turkey, the term of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer expired last May, and he was supposed to have stepped down, but he still remains in office because his successor could not be elected. President Bush exercises his powers when he is overseas, and his presidential aircraft (Airforce One) becomes his office, a mini-White House. The vice-president does not take charge when the president is overseas. President Bush recently handed over charge to the vice-president for two hours when he went to hospital for colonoscopy under sedation. What about the speaker?
A question arises about whether the speaker can assume of the office of the acting president. Again, the Constitution is very clear in Article 54 about the circumstances under which the speaker can become acting president. Article 54 :"If a vacancy occurs in the office of the president, or if the president is unable to discharge the functions of his office on account of absence, illness, or any other cause, the speaker shall discharge those functions until a president is elected or until the president resumes the functions of his office, as the case may be." It is important to note that Article 54 speaks of the speaker "acting as president during his absence." That means that the office of the president must first fall vacant before Article 54 is invoked. If there is no vacancy of that high office, Article 54 cannot be applicable. For example, when the president went to Singapore in mid-July for a medical check up, the speaker did not automatically assume the office of acting president because there had been no vacancy in that high office. The president continued to discharge his functions. During these days of advanced communication technologies, such as e-mail and video-conferencing etc, there is arguably no need for the president to relinquish his powers even when he is overseas, so long as he is healthy enough to exercise his powers. The former prime ministers continued in their offices when they visited overseas. It is argued that the framers of the constitution thought it appropriate that there should not be any confusion or doubt about the continuity of the office of the president until his successor is duly elected, as specified in the Constitution. For continuity of the high office of the president, Article 50 (2) was inserted by the framers. There is no room for acting president because none of the conditions laid down in the Article 54 exists. Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.
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