Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, dies at 80 after prolonged illness

Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, died after a prolonged illness. Her opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), announced her passing on Tuesday.

Khaleda, aged 80, had advanced cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes, chest and heart problems, her doctors said.

“The BNP chairperson and former prime minister, the national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6:00am (0000 GMT). This occurred just after the Fajr 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. She inspired the nation to regain liberty,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a statement.

“I pray for the eternal peace and forgiveness of Begum Khaleda Zia’s soul,” said Sheikh Hasina, the ousted prime minister. This statement was made on social media by her now banned Awami League party.

Zia faced years of ill health and imprisonment. Despite this, she vowed in November to campaign in elections set for February 2026. This will be the first vote since a mass uprising toppled her arch-rival Hasina last year.

Zia’s BNP is widely seen as a frontrunner.

But in late November, she was rushed to the hospital. Medics made their best efforts, but her condition declined due to a variety of health issues.

Zia was jailed for corruption in 2018 under Hasina’s government, which also blocked her from travelling abroad for medical treatment.

She was released last year, shortly after Hasina was forced from power.

Plans had been made earlier this month to fly her on a special air ambulance to London. However, her condition was not stable enough.

Her son, political heavyweight Tarique Rahman, only returned to Bangladesh after 17 years in self-imposed exile on Thursday, where he was welcomed back by huge crowds of joyous supporters.

Rahman will lead the party through the February 12 general election. He is expected to be put forward as prime minister if his party wins a majority.

‘Committed friend to Pakistan’

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply saddened by Khaleda’s passing. “Her lifelong service to Bangladesh and its growth and development leaves a lasting legacy,” he said.

“Begum Zia was a committed friend of Pakistan. My government and the people of Pakistan stand with the people of Bangladesh in this moment of sorrow,” he said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and the people of Bangladesh during this difficult time,” he said.

President Asif Ali Zardari said Khaleda’s “leadership and services will be remembered with respect”.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also expressed his condolences at Khaleda’s passing.

‘Battling begums’

Khaleda was known by her first name. She was described as shy and devoted to raising her two sons. This changed when her husband, military leader and then-president Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in an attempted army coup in 1981.

Three years later she became the head of the BNP. Her husband had founded the BNP. She vowed to deliver on his aim of “liberating Bangladesh from poverty and economic backwardness”.

She joined hands with Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh’s founding father. Hasina is also the head of the Awami League party. Together, they led a popular uprising for democracy that toppled military ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad in 1990.

But their cooperation did not last long. Their bitter rivalry would lead to the two being dubbed “the battling begums”.

Supporters saw her as polite and traditional yet quietly stylish, someone who chose her words carefully. But they also viewed her as a bold, uncompromising leader when it came to defending her party and confronting her rivals.

Hasina, by contrast, was far more outspoken and assertive. Their opposite personalities helped fuel the rivalry that dominated Bangladesh’s politics for decades.

In 1991, Bangladesh held what was hailed as its first free election. Khaleda won a surprise victory over Hasina, having gained the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami.

In doing so, Khaleda became Bangladesh’s first female prime minister. She was only the second woman to lead a democratic government of a mainly Muslim nation. Benazir Bhutto, who was elected three years earlier, was the first.

Khaleda replaced the presidential system with a parliamentary one, so that power rested with the prime minister. She also lifted restrictions on foreign investment and made primary education compulsory and free.
She lost to Hasina in the 1996 general election but came back five years later with a surprise landslide win.

Her second term was marred by the rise of militants and allegations of corruption.

In 2004, a rally that Hasina was addressing was hit by grenades. Hasina survived but over 20 people were killed and more than 500 wounded.

Khaleda’s government and its allies were widely blamed.

In 2018, after Hasina had reclaimed Bangladesh’s highest office, Rahman faced trial in absentia. He was sentenced to life for the attack. The BNP denounced the trial as politically motivated.

Detention and freedom

Although Khaleda later clamped down on radical groups, her second stint as prime minister ended in 2006. An army-backed interim government took power amid political instability and street violence.

The interim government jailed both Khaleda and Hasina on charges of corruption and abuse of power. They were imprisoned for about a year. Both were released ahead of a general election in 2008.

Khaleda never regained power.

With the BNP boycotting the 2014 and 2024 elections, her vitriolic feud with Hasina continued to dominate Bangladeshi politics.

Tension between their two parties often led to strikes, violence, and deaths. This situation impeded the economic development of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a poverty-stricken country of about 175 million. It is low-lying and prone to devastating floods.

In 2018, Khaleda, Rahman and aides were convicted of stealing some $250,000 in foreign donations. These donations were received by an orphanage trust set up when she was last prime minister. She said the charges were part of a plot to keep her and her family out of politics.

She was jailed but moved to house arrest in March 2020 on humanitarian grounds as her health deteriorated.

Khaleda was freed from house arrest in August 2024 after Hasina’s ouster.

In early 2025, Khaleda and Rahman were acquitted by Bangladesh’s Supreme Court. This was in the corruption case that resulted in the 2018 jail sentences. Rahman had been acquitted of the 2004 grenade attack on Hasina a month earlier.

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