Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, passed away at the age of 80 after a long illness.
Zia became Bangladesh’s first female head of government in 1991 after leading her party to victory in the country’s first democratic elections in 20 years.
Doctors said Monday her condition was “very critical.” Although he received life-sustaining treatment, he said it was impossible to receive multiple treatments at the same time due to his age and poor overall health.
Despite her poor health, her political party previously said Zia would run in general elections expected in February, the first since the revolution that ousted Zia’s rival, Sheikh Hasina.
Bangladesh’s politics have for decades been defined by a bitter feud between two women, who back and forth between the government and the opposition.
“Our favorite leader is no longer with us. She left us at 6 o’clock this morning,” Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced on Facebook on Monday.
As news of Zia’s death broke, crowds gathered outside Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, where Zia was admitted. The photo shows police trying to prevent them from entering the hospital premises.
Zia first came to public attention as the wife of former Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman. After his assassination in a military coup in 1981, Zia entered politics and later led the BNP.
After serving just a few weeks in 1996 for a second term, Zia returned to the premiership in 2001 and resigned ahead of the October 2006 general elections.
Her political career was marred by corruption charges and a long-standing political rivalry with Awami League leader Hasina.
Zia was jailed on corruption charges in 2018 under the Hasina administration. Zia has denied wrongdoing and said the charges were politically motivated.
She was released shortly after mass anti-government protests erupted in Bangladesh last year, leading to Hasina’s ouster and exile. The BNP said in November that Zia would campaign in the upcoming general election.
The BNP is seeking a return to power, which would see Zia’s son Tarique Rahman become the country’s new leader.
Rahman, 60, returned to Bangladesh only last week after living in self-imposed exile in London for 17 years.
Zia has been hospitalized for the past month receiving treatment for kidney damage, heart disease, and pneumonia.
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus called on the nation to pray for Zia during his final days, calling him “the greatest source of inspiration for the nation.”
The BNP said Rahman and her family, including his wife and daughter, were by her side in her final moments.
“We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and ask everyone to pray for her departed soul,” the party said in a statement Tuesday.
Local newspapers paid tribute to the former leader, saying Prothom Alo “earned the nickname ‘the uncompromising leader’.”
The English-language newspaper Daily Star called her “a defining figure in Bangladesh’s democratic struggle” and a “relentless leader in political survival and fighting spirit.”
