Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh's First Female Prime Minister, Dies at 80
Khaleda Zia, the first female prime minister of Bangladesh, has died at the age of 80, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced. Her long-standing rivalry with Sheikh Hasina shaped Bangladeshi politics for an entire generation.
Zia was the widow of former president Ziaur Rahman, who led the democracy movement and was assassinated in a coup in 1981. She served as prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and had a brief second term. The political landscape was notably shaped by Hasina's election victories and boycotts in following years.
Her tenure during the 2001-02 period was shadowed by corruption allegations. After Sheikh Hasina returned to power in 2009, the BNP faced numerous prosecutions. In 2018, Khaleda Zia was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison; the BNP maintains these charges were politically motivated, a claim Hasina denies.
Under Hasina's administration, BNP leaders reportedly experienced harassment, and Zia was placed under house arrest for several years. Her health declined during this period until she was freed in 2024 following a mass uprising. She was finally allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment after 18 refusals.
Her son, Tarique Rahman, who had been living in exile in the UK for 18 years, returned to Bangladesh in December 2025 to contest elections, with the BNP seen as electoral frontrunners. Interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus released a statement honoring Khaleda Zia as a symbol of the democratic movement.
Zia is expected to be buried in Dhaka alongside her late husband.
