Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister and an arch-rival of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, has died from a prolonged illness. She was 80 years old.
Zia intended to run for a third term as prime minister in February, when the country will vote for the first time since a popular revolution in late 2024 unseated Hasina.
Thrust into the political limelight following the assassination of her husband, then-president Ziaur Rahman, she went on to become Bangladesh’s first female prime minister in 1991.
Her career, which included spells in prison and house arrest, was defined by a bitter feud with Hasina. She was acquitted of corruption and allowed to travel to London for treatment only after Hasina lost power.
Physicians said on Monday that Zia’s condition was “extremely critical”. She was put on life support, but it was not possible to provide multiple treatments at the same time given her age and overall poor health, they added.
“Our favourite leader is no longer with us. She left us at 6 a.m. this morning,” Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced on Facebook on Tuesday.
When news of her death broke, crowds gathered outside Evercare Hospital in Dhaka where Zia had been admitted.
As the wife of Bangladesh’s former president Rahman, Zi was a reserved presence alongside her famous husband. When he was killed in a military coup in 1981, Zia entered politics and went on to lead the BNP in the country’s first elections in 20 years.
Known as an “uncompromising leader” after refusing to take part in a controversial election under military ruler General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in the 1980s, Zia broke through a male-dominated political landscape and transformed into one of Bangladesh’s most formidable political leaders.
Her first term was widely praised for efforts to improve women’s education and social development, with her government bringing back parliamentary democracy by amending the constitution with bipartisan support.
Her second term in 1996, which lasted only weeks, drew criticism for staging a one-sided election despite opposition demands for a neutral caretaker authority — a measure parliament approved before dissolving.
Zia returned as prime minister in 2001, stepping down in October 2006 ahead of a general election. Her administration faced sharp criticism over allegations of corruption. (BBC)
