Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female PM, dies at 80

Khaleda Zia dies: Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, has died after a prolonged illness, her opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said on Tuesday.

Khaleda Zia was 80 years old. Her doctors said she had been suffering from advanced cirrhosis of the liver, along with arthritis, diabetes, and chest and heart problems.

Read more: Khaleda Zia: Bangladesh’s first woman PM with Indian roots and a decades-long rivalry with Sheikh Hasina


Zia was on a "life support system" and required regular kidney dialysis.

“The BNP chairperson and former prime minister, national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6:00 am, shortly after the Fajr (dawn) prayer,” the party said in a statement.

“We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and request everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul,” the statement added.


Her death comes only days after her son, Tarique Rahman, returned to Bangladesh from London, ending 17 years of self-imposed exile, as the country moves towards crucial elections.

Born on 15 August 1945, Khaleda Zia served as prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first woman prime minister of Bangladesh and the second female prime minister in the Muslim world, after Benazir Bhutto. She was the widow of former president Ziaur Rahman, who founded the BNP.

Khaleda Zia entered politics after Ziaur Rahman’s assassination in 1981. She later led the movement for democracy following a military coup in 1982. She became prime minister after the BNP won the 1991 general election and returned to power again in 2001.

After leaving office in 2006, Bangladesh faced political unrest, leading to a military-backed caretaker government. Khaleda Zia and her sons were charged with corruption, and in 2018, she was sentenced to 17 years in prison in two graft cases.

She was moved to hospital for treatment in 2019 and later released on house arrest on humanitarian grounds. In November 2024, she was acquitted in the graft cases.

Inputs from agencies