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Agence France-Presse

Bangladesh’s three-time prime minister Khaleda Zia, who hoped to lead her nation one last time after the election next year, died on Tuesday aged 80, her party said.
The government declared three days of state mourning, with her funeral to be held on Wednesday.
Despite years of ill health and imprisonment, Zia vowed in November to campaign in the election set for February – the first vote since a mass uprising toppled her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina last year.
Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely seen as a front runner and her son Tarique Rahman, who returned only on Thursday after 17 years in exile, is seen as a potential prime minister if they win a majority.
In late November, she was rushed to hospital, where despite the best efforts of doctors, her condition declined from a raft of health issues.
Nevertheless, hours before her death, party workers had on Monday submitted nomination papers on her behalf for three constituencies for the polls.

“The BNP chairperson and former prime minister, the national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6am, just after the Fajr (dawn) prayer,” the party said in a statement.
“We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and request everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul,” it added.
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Bangladesh “has lost a great guardian”.
“Through her uncompromising leadership, the nation was repeatedly freed from undemocratic conditions and inspired to regain liberty,” Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus said in a statement.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he hoped Zia’s “vision and legacy will continue to guide our partnership”, a warm message despite the strained relations between New Delhi and Dhaka since Hasina’s fall.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Zia had been a “committed friend” to Islamabad, while China’s ambassador in Dhaka, Yao Wen, offered his condolences.
“China will continue to maintain its long-standing and friendly ties with the BNP,” he said.
Braving cold rain, mourners gathered on Tuesday outside the hospital in Dhaka where Zia’s body rests.
“This is an irreparable loss for the nation,” senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told reporters, his voice choking with emotion.
“She chose prison over luxury and spent years behind bars,” said Golam Kibria, 29, a BNP loyalist who said he was tortured under Hasina’s government, calling Zia an “unmatched leader who can never be replaced”.

Zia was jailed for corruption in 2018 under Hasina’s government, which also barred her from travelling abroad for medical treatment.
Zia was released shortly after Hasina was forced from power last year.
Hasina, 78, sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity, remains in hiding in her old ally India.
“I pray for the eternal peace and forgiveness of Begum Khaleda Zia’s soul,” Hasina said in a statement on social media by her now-banned Awami League party.


Bangladesh’s Prothom Alo newspaper, which said Zia had “earned the epithet of the ‘uncompromising leader’”, reported that Rahman and other family members were by her side at the time of her death.
“The lives of politicians are marked by rises and falls,” the newspaper wrote on Tuesday.
“Lawsuits, arrests, imprisonment, persecution and attacks by adversaries are far from uncommon. Khaleda Zia endured such ordeals at their most extreme.”


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Bangladesh

Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia dies after prolonged illness

Bangladesh’s former prime minister Khaleda Zia at a Dhaka rally in 2016. Photo: AFP

Zia’s supporters mourn her death in Dhaka on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Former US president Jimmy Carter (second left) with Khaleda Zia (right) and Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka in 2001. Photo: AFP

BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman waves to his supporters in Dhaka on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Will Tarique Rahman’s return to Bangladesh ease tensions, restore stability?

Tarique Rahman, son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and Bangladesh Nationalist Party‘s acting chairman, addresses supporters during a rally after his arrival in Dhaka on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman waves to his supporters in Dhaka on Friday. The BNP is widely seen as having the strongest chance of winning the February election. Photo: Reuters

A supporter of Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman wears a shirt with his picture in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party gather to join a grand rally to welcome BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, in Dhaka on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

India’s partial visa suspension signals unease over Bangladesh’s recent unrest

Protesters chant slogans around a fire in Dhaka on December 18 after the death of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, whose killing triggered unrest in the Bangladeshi capital and other parts of the country, including attacks on media offices, authorities said. Photo: AFP

A fire burns outside the offices of Prothom Alo in Dhaka on Friday, as unrest followed the death of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi. Photo: AFP

A mourner holds Bangladesh’s national flag during the funeral of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi in Dhaka on Saturday, following days of protests after his killing, which authorities say triggered unrest in the capital and elsewhere. Photo: AFP

Bangladeshi politician’s threat targeting India’s northeast deepens row

Hasnat Abdullah (centre), a leader of the National Citizen Party, speaking at a rally in Dhaka on Saturday. Photo: EPA

Military musicians perform during celebrations to mark Bangladesh’s Victory Day at the old airport in Dhaka on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

An activist holds a poster of Sharif Osman Hadi, a student protest leader who was shot outside a mosque in Dhaka on Friday, during a protest in Bangladesh’s capital on Monday. Photo: AFP

Then Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina attends a security conference in Munich last year. She has been in exile in India since her ousting in August 2024. Photo: dpa

A group of protesters march to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Wednesday demanding the extradition of Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. Photo: Reuters

News

Asia

South Asia

Despite her ill health, 80-year-old Zia, a dominant figure in Dhaka’s turbulent power struggles, had vowed to run in next year’s election


Despite her ill health, 80-year-old Zia, a dominant figure in Dhaka’s turbulent power struggles, had vowed to run in next year’s election.


Sheikh Hasina

Asia elections

Obituaries

Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia dies after prolonged illness

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Despite her ill health, 80-year-old Zia, a dominant figure in Dhaka’s turbulent power struggles, had vowed to run in next year’s election

Despite her ill health, 80-year-old Zia, a dominant figure in Dhaka’s turbulent power struggles, had vowed to run in next year’s election