Bangladesh’s first woman prime minister Khaleda Zia dies at 80
Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first woman prime minister, passed away on Tuesday, December 30, at the age of 80, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party announced, marking the end of a political chapter that spanned more than three decades.
“The BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6:00 a.m., shortly after the Fajr prayer,” the BNP said.
Zia’s death comes at a critical political moment, just weeks ahead of the polls, following the 2024 ouster of her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina and the establishment of an interim government under Muhammad Yunus.
Following her death, her son Tarique Rahman, who returned to Bangladesh on December 25 after 17 years in exile, is expected to assume full charge of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Rahman is currently the party’s acting chairman and is set to lead it into the February 12 general elections, with the BNP indicating he could be its prime ministerial candidate if the party secures a majority.
Khaleda Zia had been suffering from advanced liver cirrhosis, diabetes, arthritis, and heart and chest complications. She was admitted to Evercare Hospital in Dhaka on November 23, where she remained under treatment until her death.
Born on August 15, 1945, in Dinajpur, then part of East Bengal, Khaleda Zia married army officer Ziaur Rahman in 1960. After Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, Rahman rose to national prominence, later becoming president and founding the BNP in 1978.
Zia entered politics after her husband’s assassination in a failed military coup in 1981.
At 35, she assumed leadership of the BNP amid political turmoil and went on to become Bangladesh’s first woman prime minister following the 1991 elections.
She served three terms as prime minister, from 1991–96, briefly in 1996, and again from 2001–06.
Her first administration restored the parliamentary system through the 12th Constitutional Amendment, expanded access to education, made primary schooling free and compulsory, introduced stipends for girls, and raised education spending.
Her governments also initiated economic liberalisation, introduced VAT, reformed banking laws, promoted privatisation, and encouraged foreign investment.
Khaleda Zia’s political career was defined by a long and bitter rivalry with Sheikh Hasina, the two leaders often referred to as Bangladesh’s “battling begums.”
Their rivalry fuelled repeated political crises, including the 2007 emergency that ushered in military-backed interim rule.
In 2018, Zia and her son were convicted in a corruption case involving an orphanage trust, charges she described as politically motivated.
She was imprisoned and later moved to house arrest in 2020 on humanitarian grounds due to failing health.
Earlier this year, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court acquitted both Zia and Rahman, allowing his return to the country.
Chief Adviser of the interim government Muhammad Yunus expressed profound sorrow, calling Khaleda Zia a “symbol of the democratic movement” and a leader whose role in establishing multi-party democracy would be remembered forever.
The government recently accorded her the status of a “Very, Very Important Person of the State.”
Leaders across the region also paid tribute. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said her contributions to Bangladesh’s development and India–Bangladesh relations would be remembered, while Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described her as a “committed friend of Pakistan.”
The BNP announced seven days of national mourning, with funeral details to be announced later.
