DHAKA: A protest outside the Bangladeshi president’s home demanding his resignation ended when demonstrators clashed with riot police while trying to storm the compound, with 30 injured in the melee.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s powers are largely ceremonial but he played a pivotal role at the height of an August student revolution that ousted autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina.
Shahabuddin announced his one-time ally had quit on the day she fled the country for neighboring India, paving the way for the caretaker administration now running the South Asian country.
But last week he said in a local media interview he had not actually seen a written letter from Hasina to that effect — raising the prospect that her resignation was unlawful.
Protesters began gathering outside Shahabuddin’s compound in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday demanding he step down and accusing him of residual loyalty to Hasina and her Awami League party.
“Since the student-led protest toppled the fascist regime, there shouldn’t be a president from that regime,” Faruk Hossain, a student leader at the protest, told AFP.
“He must be replaced by a people’s president.”
Several hundred protesters attempted to break through a security cordon and storm the compound shortly before midnight on Wednesday.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Talebur Rahman said at least 25 police officers were injured by protesters.
“Nine are still undergoing treatment. The protesters threw stones and attacked them indiscriminately,” he told AFP.
“The situation is now calm, and there is adequate security in place.”
Another five people were treated at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, police official Md Faruq told AFP.
Local media reports said that number included three protesters and two journalists.
The protest dispersed after leaders of Students Against Discrimination, the protest group credited with sparking the uprising against Hasina, visited the site and pledged to find a replacement for Chuppu.
“We will talk to political parties in front of the military chief by Thursday and then choose someone who will hold office,” student leader Hasnat Abdullah was quoted as saying the Daily Star newspaper.
His colleague Sarjis Alam reportedly told the crowd to remain calm.
“If emotion takes over strategy, the country will suffer,” he added, according to the Daily Star report.
Several top officials seen as Hasina loyalists were purged from their positions after Hasina’s ouster, including Supreme Court justices and the country’s central bank chief.
Their departures usually followed student-led protests outside their homes or offices.
30 injured in protests demanding Bangladeshi president resign
https://arab.news/8m3hq
30 injured in protests demanding Bangladeshi president resign
- The interim government was expected to hold a Cabinet meeting to discuss the issue on Thursday
- Student group sets a two-day deadline for President Mohammed Shahabuddin to step down
Prabowo, Trump expected to sign Indonesia-US tariff deal in January 2026
- Deal will mean US tariffs on Indonesian products are cut from a threatened 32 percent to 19 percent
- Jakarta committed to scrap tariffs on more than 99 percent of US goods
JAKARTA: Indonesia expects to sign a tariff deal with the US in early 2026 after reaching an agreement on “all substantive issues,” Jakarta's chief negotiator said on Tuesday.
Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto met with US trade representative Jamieson Greer in Washington this week to finalize an Indonesia-US trade deal, following a series of discussions that took place after the two countries agreed on a framework for negotiations in July.
“All substantive issues laid out in the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade have been agreed upon by the two sides, including both the main and technical issues,” Hartarto said in an online briefing.
Officials from both countries are now working to set up a meeting between Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and US President Donald Trump.
It will take place after Indonesian and US technical teams meet in the second week of January for a legal scrubbing, or a final clean-up of an agreement text.
“We are expecting that the upcoming technical process will wrap up in time as scheduled, so that at the end of January 2026 President Prabowo and President Trump can sign the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade,” Hartarto said.
Indonesian trade negotiators have been in “intensive” talks with their Washington counterparts since Trump threatened to levy a 32 percent duty on Indonesian exports.
Under the July framework, US tariffs on Indonesian imports were lowered to 19 percent, with Jakarta committing to measures to balance trade with Washington, including removing tariffs on more than 99 percent of American imports and scrapping all non-tariff barriers facing American companies.
Jakarta also pledged to import $15 billion worth of energy products and $4.5 billion worth of agricultural products such as soybeans, wheat and cotton, from the US.
“Indonesia will also get tariff exemptions on top Indonesian goods, such as palm oil, coffee, cocoa,” Hartarto said.
“This is certainly good news, especially for Indonesian industries directly impacted by the tariff policy, especially labor-intensive sectors that employ around 5 million workers.”
In the past decade, Indonesia has consistently posted trade surpluses with the US, its second-largest export market after China.
From January to October, data from the Indonesian trade ministry showed two-way trade valued at nearly $36.2 billion, with Jakarta posting a $14.9 billion surplus.
