Bangladesh ex-PM Zia in critical condition, party says

Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia’s party said her condition was “very critical” in a hospital in Dhaka, while her self-exiled son and party deputy chairman Tarique Rahman signaled uncertainty about her return.

Doctors and senior party officials said 80-year-old Zia, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was admitted to a private hospital on November 23 with a serious chest infection that affected his heart and lungs.

His party gained renewed prominence after Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s long-serving former prime minister, was ousted in a student-led uprising last year.

Rahman, who has lived in London since 2008, wrote on Facebook on Saturday that his return to Bangladesh was “completely” out of his control, fueling speculation about political or legal obstacles.

The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus, later said there were “no restrictions or objections” to his return.

“There are no obstacles in this regard,” Yunus’ press secretary Shafiqul Alam said in a Facebook post.

The interim government will issue a travel card within a day if Rahman wants to return to Bangladesh, de facto foreign minister Touhid Hossain said on Sunday.

Rahman has been acquitted in all cases filed against him since Hasina’s ouster in August last year, effectively removing the legal hurdles that once made his return difficult.

The BNP, which boycotted disputed elections in 2014 and 2024, has gained momentum since last August and is seen as a pioneer in Bangladesh’s changing political landscape.