Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, and chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) party, Khaleda Zia, has died, her party said on Tuesday.
Khaleda was 80 and suffering from prolonged illnesses, which included cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes, chest and heart problems, her doctors said.
In a statement, the BNP party said Khaleda died at 6 am local time in Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, where she was admitted on November 23 with symptoms of a lung infection, as reported by local media.
“Our beloved national leader is no longer with us. She left us at 6 am today, just after the Fajr (dawn) prayer” the BNP said in a statement posted on Facebook.
“We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and request everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul,” it added.
Khaleda served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996, and then again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first woman in her country’s history and the second in the Muslim world to head a democratic government as prime minister.
Born in Dinajpur district in northwestern Bangladesh in 1945, Khaleda married Ziaur Rahman in 1960, a prominent hero of Bangladesh’s liberation war who founded the BNP in 1977. He also served as President of the Republic.
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After her husband’s assassination in 1981, Khaleda was appointed party vice-chairperson in 1983, and later became its chairperson in 1984. In 1991, she became Bangladesh’s first woman prime minister through a general election held on February 27.
As archrival to Sheikh Hasina, whom she faced as opponent in numerous elections, Khaleda had a tumultuous political career that saw her being charged with corruption charges, which she claimed were politically motivated.
In January 2025, the Supreme Court acquitted Khaleda in the last corruption case against her, which would have let her run in February’s upcoming election. She had flown to the UK for treatment for her medical conditions, and returned in May after being allowed by Bangladesh’s interim government to travel abroad after Hasina’s government rejected previous requests at least 18 times.
Khaleda’s son, Rahman Tarique, returned to Bangladesh this month after a nearly-17-year self-imposed exile in the UK. He is now being seen as a strong candidate to become prime minister in the parliamentary election next year.
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