DHAKA: Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister and a central figure in the country’s modern political history, died early Tuesday after a prolonged illness, her party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), announced. She was 80.
In this regard, the BNP said Khaleda Zia passed away at 6:00 a.m. local time, shortly after the Fajr prayer. “The BNP chairperson and former prime minister, the national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today,” the statement said, adding that the party prayed for the forgiveness of her soul and requested the nation to offer prayers in her memory.
In this sense, doctors said Zia had been suffering from multiple serious health conditions, including advanced cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes, as well as chest and heart complications.
Furthermore, Zia had vowed in November to take part in campaigning for the general election scheduled for February 2026. The election will be the first since last year’s mass uprising that led to the fall of her long-time political rival, Sheikh Hasina. The BNP is widely regarded as a leading contender in the upcoming polls.
However, in late November, Zia was rushed to hospital after her condition worsened. Despite continued medical care, her health continued to decline. During her final days, interim leader Muhammad Yunus called on citizens to pray for her recovery, describing her as a “source of utmost inspiration for the nation.”
Zia’s death was also confirmed by BNP media chief Moudud Alamgir Pavel.
Meanwhile, a former prime minister who served two terms, Khaleda Zia played a defining role in Bangladesh’s politics for decades.
In 2018, she was jailed on corruption charges under the government of Sheikh Hasina, a move her supporters described as politically motivated. During that period, she was barred from traveling abroad for advanced medical treatment.
She was released last year shortly after Hasina was forced from power. Plans were reportedly made earlier this month to fly Zia to London on a special air ambulance for treatment, but doctors later ruled that she was not stable enough to travel.
In such a scenario, her son BNP’s acting chairman and prominent political leader Tarique Rahman, returned to Bangladesh last week after 17 years in self-imposed exile. He was greeted by large crowds of supporters upon his return.
Rahman is expected to lead the BNP into the February 12 general election and is widely seen as the party’s candidate for prime minister should it secure a parliamentary majority.
