Bangladesh's ex-premier Khaleda Zia returns, adding pressure for elections

DHAKA – Bangladesh’s ailing erstwhile Prime Minister Khaleda Zia returned to the state from London connected Tuesday greeting aft 4 months of aesculapian treatment, adding to unit for its interim leaders to clasp elections.

The South Asian state has been nether a authorities led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus since erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted successful a students-led wide uprising successful August past year.

Zia, Hasina’s archrival, and her Bangladesh Nationalist Party person been pushing Yunus' authorities to clasp a nationalist predetermination successful December to instrumentality the state to antiauthoritarian rule.

Many welcomed Hasina's overthrow arsenic a accidental to instrumentality to antiauthoritarian elections, but suspicion and uncertainty person surfaced successful caller months astir the caller government's committedness to clasp elections soon. It has said the adjacent predetermination volition beryllium held successful either December oregon by June adjacent year, depending connected the grade of reforms successful assorted sectors

Crowds gathered extracurricular Dhaka’s main airdrome to invited Zia.

Accompanied by her 2 daughters-in-law, Zia arrived connected a peculiar aerial ambulance arranged by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who besides arranged her transport to London successful January. Zia suffers from assorted superior wellness conditions and she has not attended immoderate nationalist gatherings for galore years. Her elder son, Tarique Rahman, leads the enactment arsenic acting main from exile successful London.

Zia’s carnal beingness successful the state has immense symbolic worth for her enactment portion Hasina is successful exile successful India.

Zia and Hasina person alternately ruled the state arsenic premier ministers since 1991 erstwhile the state returned to a ideology aft the ouster of authoritarian President H.M. Ershad.

Zia served the state arsenic premier curate 3 times, doubly for afloat five-year presumption and erstwhile for conscionable a fewer months.

Zia is the widow of erstwhile subject chief-turned-president Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated successful 1981. Hasina is the girl of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh's independency conflict against Pakistan successful 1971.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.