Bangladesh’s first female prime minister Khaleda Zia dies aged 80

Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, died at the age of 80 after a long illness.

“Our favorite leader is no longer with us. He left us at 6 am this morning,” Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said on Facebook. he said.

Doctors said on Monday night that Zia’s condition was “extremely critical”. They said that he was on life support, but due to his age and poor general health, it was not possible to administer more than one treatment at the same time.

Zia became Bangladesh’s first female head of government in 1991 after leading the BNP to victory in the country’s first democratic election in 20 years.

Zia returned to the post of prime minister in 2001 and resigned ahead of general elections in October 2006.

His political career has been marred by allegations of corruption and a long-running political rivalry with Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted as prime minister last year.

Zia, the wife of Bangladesh’s late president Ziaur Rahman, was sentenced to five years in prison for corruption in 2018.