‘A great guardian’: Accidental PM Zia leaves indelible mark on B’desh politics

Dhaka: Khaleda Zia, the first woman Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the second in the Muslim world, dominated the country’s politics for decades alongside her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina.

Zia, the longtime chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and a three-time prime minister, died early Tuesday in Dhaka after a prolonged illness. She was 80.

She is admired by her supporters for her role in restoring democracy in the country following military or quasi-military rule since 1975. Zia largely dominated Bangladesh’s politics in the 1990s as well as in the early 2000s.

Her political journey, spanning over four decades, was one of tremendous highs and lows: from leading a major party and governing the country to being convicted on corruption charges and later receiving a presidential pardon.

Zia’s rise as a public figure is widely viewed as accidental. A decade after becoming a widow at the age of 35, she assumed the role of prime minister, but her entry into politics was not planned. She was largely unfamiliar with the political world until she was seemingly dragged into it following the assassination of her husband, President Ziaur Rahman, a military strongman turned politician, in an abortive army coup on May 30, 1981.

Before this, she was merely regarded as the wife of a general and later the First Lady. However, she quickly made her mark as the top leader of the BNP, the party her husband had founded in 1978.

She was enrolled as a primary member on January 3, 1982. By March of the following year, she became the party’s vice president, and in May 1984, BNP’s Chairperson - a position she held until her death. Her main rival throughout this period was Sheikh Hasina, the chief of the Awami League. “Her (Zia’s) popularity soared after she boycotted the polls in 1986,” wrote Professor Howher Rizvi, who later became international affairs adviser of Hasina’s government.

World mourns loss

In a condolence message, Chinese Premier Li Qiang described Zia as a veteran politician and an “old friend” of the Chinese people who played an important role in advancing relations between Bangladesh and China during her tenure as prime minister.

In a social media post, the US Embassy in Dhaka said Zia played a significant role in shaping the modern history of Bangladesh and her leadership has made a significant contribution to the development and progress of the country.

Bangladesh’s interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday described Zia as a “great guardian” whose role in the country’s democratic journey would be remembered forever, as he expressed profound sorrow at her death.

In a condolence message posted on his X handle, Yunus said he was “deeply saddened and grief-stricken” , noting that the nation had lost not just a political leader but a towering stateswoman who represented an important chapter in Bangladesh’s history.

With the passing of Zia, “the nation has lost a great guardian”, he said. Yunus said Zia’s role in establishing democracy, nurturing a multi-party political culture will be remembered forever.