US EditionBangladesh's first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, dies at 80
Khaleda Zia led Bangladesh as its first female prime minister, serving three terms and shaping its political landscape amid chronic illness and political rivalry.
- On December 30, 2025, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party announced Khaleda Zia died at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka at 6.00 a.m., just after the Fajr prayer.
- Admitted on November 23, Khaleda Zia, BNP chairperson and former prime minister, had 36 days of treatment for infections and was placed on ventilator support on December 11; plans to transfer her abroad were abandoned as she was too unstable.
- Having served as prime minister, Khaleda Zia was Bangladesh's first woman in the role from 1991 and 2001 and remained BNP chairperson until her death.
- The BNP posted on Facebook `Our beloved national leader is no longer with us.` and interim leader Muhammad Yunus called her a `source of utmost inspiration for the nation` while doctors declared her dead, the party said.
- Her long rivalry with Sheikh Hasina defined Bangladeshi politics, and Zia was released in 2024 after a student-led uprising ousted Hasina, shifting the 2026 election context.
138 Articles
138 Articles
The former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia died on Tuesday December 30 at the age of 80, announced the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which she had led since 1984, and which is a great favourite for the elections next February.
Khaleda Zia, 80 years old, died in Daca, this Wednesday. Despite her weakened health, Zia announced that she was going to apply for the BNP to Bangladesh's presidential elections in February 2026.
Asia Today Dhaka: Three Days of National Mourning for the Death of Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia
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Khaleda Zia, the matriarch of Bangladeshi nationalism and central figure of the country's politics for four decades, died this Tuesday in Dhaka at the age of 80, closing...
Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, died at the age of 80.
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