Bangladesh Ex-PM Khaleda Zia Returns To Dhaka After Treatment Abroad

Former Prime Minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia returned to Dhaka, on a special aircraft provided by Emir of Qatar, from the United Kingdom after undergoing treatment for her illness.

Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, Dr Zubaida Rahman and Syeda Sharmila Rahman, Ms Zia was welcomed by her party's senior leaders at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Zia, 79, served as prime minister of the South Asian nation twice but was jailed for corruption in 2018 during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina, her successor and lifelong rival.

The caretaker government of Muhammad Yunus took charge of Bangladesh last August after the toppling of ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi after a student-led uprising.

Hordes of BNP supporters gathered on the streets to welcome Khaleda Zia as the party prepares for elections that are supposed to be held in the country next year. Khaleda Zia's return will put pressure on the interim government to hold elections as it is seen dithering on setting a date to hold elections.

বাংলাদেশে স্বাগত গণতন্ত্রের মা… pic.twitter.com/P9FFLi0PHB

— Barrister Zaima Rahman (@ZaimaRahmanBD) May 6, 2025

While Khaleda Zia has been ailing, her presence in Bangladesh has huge symbolic value for her BNP cadres.

হাত নেড়ে ছেলে তারেক রহমানকে বিদায় জানালেন দেশনেত্রী বেগম জিয়া।

লন্ডন হিথ্রো বিমান বন্দর
মে ৫, ২০২৫।#BNP #KhaledaZia #Zia #TariqueRahman pic.twitter.com/TNJFyIIvv1

— Barrister Zaima Rahman (@ZaimaRahmanBD) May 5, 2025

She was released from prison in January this year after Bangladesh's Supreme Court acquitted her and soon after she travelled to the United Kingdom for treatment.

The widow of a former military ruler, General Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981, Khaleda Zia became Bangladesh's first woman prime minister in 1991.

Currently, the BNP is largely being run by Khaleda Zia's son and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman who has been living abroad, and the party's leaders have held several consultations on holding elections soon in Bangladesh.

Mr Rahman has made a strong statement pitching for elections as soon as possible.

"The path to fascism or authoritarian rule is never explicitly laid out in a nation's constitution or legal framework. Rather, it emerges when those very frameworks are ignored or undermined. Authoritarian rule begins the moment an individual or group starts to regard themselves as uniquely indispensable- imposing unilateral decisions upon the public without consent," he said on X.

"It is precisely to guard against such tendencies against the quiet ambition to cling to power without the legitimacy of a vote, that democracies must insist on governance through direct electoral mandate. A legislature elected by the people, an accountable executive, and a culture of regular democratic practice are essential to protecting the rights of citizens and embedding democratic values within the institutions of state and politics," he added.

Muhammad Yunus has been accused of allowing Islamist forces like the Jamaat-E-Islami Bangladesh a free hand and his critics have accused him of wanting to hang on to power by delaying elections.