Overview
- Khaleda Zia died at 80 during the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s campaign, leaving an immediate leadership gap in the opposition.
- Tarique Rahman, who returned last Christmas after 17 years in London exile and was convicted in absentia, will lead the BNP into the Feb. 12 election and is expected to be its pick for prime minister if it wins.
- The former premier had planned to seek a parliamentary seat despite chronic illness after returning to Bangladesh in May following medical treatment in Europe.
- Zia rose to head the BNP in 1981 after her husband Ziaur Rahman’s assassination and became prime minister in 1991, breaking a barrier for women in the country.
- Her rivalry with Sheikh Hasina dominated national politics for decades, with a 2018 corruption conviction leading to prison and then house arrest before her freedom expanded after Hasina’s defeat in 2024.