DHAKA (AFP) Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s three-time prime minister who intended to lead her country for the last time after next year’s elections, died on Tuesday at the age of 80.
Zia, a dominating figure in the South Asian country’s volatile power battles for decades, had promised to participate in the polls next year, the first since her arch-rival was deposed by a huge rebellion.
Despite years of bad health and jail, Zia committed last month to campaign in elections scheduled for February 2026, in which her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is largely seen as the favorite.
“Unite the party and prepare to lead,” Zia had told BNP members earlier this year.
But in late November, she was brought to the hospital, where, despite doctors’ best efforts, her condition deteriorated due to a variety of health difficulties.
Zia was arrested for corruption in 2018 by Sheikh Hasina’s dictatorial regime, which also banned her from seeking medical care overseas.
She was liberated immediately after Hasina’s removal in August 2024.
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