DHAKA: Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister and a dominant figure in the country’s politics for decades, died on Tuesday following a prolonged illness. She was 80.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which she led for many years, confirmed her death. Doctors said she had been suffering from multiple serious health conditions, including advanced liver cirrhosis, diabetes, arthritis, and heart and chest-related complications. Earlier this year, Khaleda travelled to London for medical treatment, where she remained for nearly four months before returning to Bangladesh.
Although she had not held office since 2006 and spent long periods either imprisoned or under house arrest, Khaleda remained a powerful political presence. Her centre-right BNP continues to enjoy significant public support and is widely regarded as the leading contender in the parliamentary elections scheduled for February.
Her son, Tarique Rahman, the party’s acting chairman, returned to Bangladesh last week after nearly 17 years in exile. At 60, he is seen as a strong candidate for the premiership should the BNP secure victory.
Bangladesh has been governed by an interim administration since August 2024, following a student-led movement that forced the removal of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The interim government is headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus. In November, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia over her government’s violent response to the protests.
Khaleda Zia was initially known as a reserved figure who focused on raising her two sons after the assassination of her husband, President Ziaur Rahman, in a failed military coup in 1981. Three years later, she assumed leadership of the BNP, founded by her late husband, pledging to carry forward his vision of economic progress and poverty reduction.
She later joined forces with Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s founding leader and head of the Awami League, to lead a mass movement that ended military rule under Hossain Mohammad Ershad in 1990. Their alliance, however, soon collapsed, giving way to a fierce rivalry that came to define Bangladesh’s politics. The two leaders became famously known as the “battling Begums.”
Supporters viewed Khaleda as dignified and cautious in speech, yet resolute and unyielding in political battles. Hasina, by contrast, was known for her outspoken and forceful style, a difference that further intensified their long-running feud.
In the landmark 1991 election, widely regarded as Bangladesh’s first free and fair vote, Khaleda defeated Hasina with the backing of Jamaat-e-Islami, becoming the country’s first woman prime minister. She was also only the second woman to lead a democratic government in a Muslim-majority country, following Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto.
During her first term, Khaleda restored the parliamentary system, shifted power to the prime minister’s office, encouraged foreign investment, and introduced free and compulsory primary education.
She lost power in 1996 but returned with a sweeping victory five years later. Her second term, however, was overshadowed by the rise of militant groups and widespread allegations of corruption.
In 2004, a grenade attack targeted a rally addressed by Sheikh Hasina, killing more than 20 people and injuring hundreds. Although Hasina survived, Khaleda’s government and its allies were widely accused of responsibility. In 2018, Tarique Rahman was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia over the attack, a verdict the BNP rejected.
Political unrest escalated, and in 2006 an army-backed caretaker government took control. Both Khaleda and Hasina were arrested on corruption and abuse-of-power charges and detained for about a year before being released ahead of the 2008 elections.
Khaleda never returned to office. The BNP’s decision to boycott the 2014 and 2024 elections prolonged her rivalry with Hasina, while repeated clashes between their supporters disrupted public life and hindered economic development in flood-prone Bangladesh, home to roughly 175 million people.
In 2018, Khaleda, her son, and close aides were convicted of misappropriating about $250,000 in foreign donations linked to an orphanage trust established during her tenure. She rejected the charges as politically motivated. Although jailed, she was transferred to house arrest in March 2020 on humanitarian grounds as her health declined.
She was released in August 2024 after Hasina’s removal from power. In early 2025, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court overturned the corruption convictions against Khaleda and Tarique Rahman. Rahman had also been cleared a month earlier in the grenade attack case.
Condolences from Pakistan
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar expressed deep sorrow over Khaleda Zia’s passing, praising her political legacy and her enduring relationship with Pakistan.
In a statement posted on X, Prime Minister Sharif said Khaleda Zia would be remembered for her lifelong dedication to Bangladesh and her role in shaping the nation’s political journey. He described her as a sincere friend of Pakistan and said the government and people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with Bangladesh during this time of grief. He offered prayers for her soul and condolences to her family and supporters.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also conveyed his sympathies, calling her death a significant loss for Bangladesh and extending heartfelt condolences to her family and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
