Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia, a key opposition figure and election frontrunner, dies at 80, prompting three days of state mourning.
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s former prime minister Khaleda Zia has died at the age of 80. Her party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), announced her death on Tuesday.
Zia was a three-time prime minister and a frontrunner for elections set for February. The government declared three days of state mourning following her passing.
Her funeral is scheduled for Wednesday. Zia had been in poor health for years and was recently hospitalised in late November.
Despite her illness, she vowed in November to campaign in the upcoming polls. Hours before her death, party workers submitted nomination papers on her behalf for three constituencies.
“The BNP chairperson and former prime minister, the national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6:00 am (0000 GMT), just after the Fajr (dawn) prayer,” the party said in a statement.
Zia was jailed for corruption in 2018 under the government of her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina. She was released last year after Hasina was toppled from power.
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Bangladesh “has lost a great guardian”. Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus praised her “uncompromising leadership”.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences, hoping Zia’s “vision and legacy will continue to guide our partnership”. Messages also came from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and China’s ambassador.
Mourners gathered in the rain outside the Dhaka hospital where her body rests. “This is an irreparable loss for the nation,” senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told reporters.
“She chose prison over luxury and spent years behind bars,” said Golam Kibria, a 29-year-old BNP loyalist. Hasina, now in hiding in India, issued a statement praying for “the eternal peace” of Zia’s soul.
Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman, returned from exile last week and is seen as a potential prime minister if the BNP wins. He was by her side at the time of her death.
