Khaleda Zia served as BNP chairperson for 41 consecutive years

Following the assassination of BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda Zia entered politics. Within two and a half years of joining political life, she was elected chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The completion of 41 years in that position was marked in May last year. During this extended period, under Khaleda Zia’s leadership, the BNP assumed state power in Bangladesh on three occasions.

According to information available on the BNP’s website, Khaleda Zia obtained primary membership of the party on 3 January 1982. In March 1983, she became the party’s senior vice-chairperson.

Subsequently, on 12 January 1984, she was appointed acting chairperson of the BNP. On 10 May of the same year, she was elected BNP chairperson unopposed.

Since then, Khaleda Zia served as chairperson of the BNP for more than 41 years. During this time, she became prime minister of Bangladesh after winning the fifth, sixth and eighth National Parliamentary Elections in 1991, 1996 and 2001 respectively. Khaleda Zia never lost an election she personally contested.

In 1991, Khaleda Zia became the first woman prime minister of Bangladesh and the second woman head of government in the Muslim world. In recognition of her role in promoting women’s education and women’s empowerment, she was ranked 29th on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s most powerful women in 2005.

The most difficult period of Khaleda Zia’s political life came during the previous Awami League government. During that administration, she was sentenced to imprisonment in two cases.

After being incarcerated for more than two years, the then government suspended her sentence by executive order in March 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic and released her on conditional grounds.

Thereafter, her release was extended at six-month intervals through successive applications and executive orders.

Following the fall of the Awami League government after the July mass uprising on 5 August 2024, Khaleda Zia was released by executive order the following day.

She subsequently left Dhaka for London, United Kingdom, on 7 January 2025 for advanced medical treatment. After staying in London for 117 days for treatment, she returned to the country on 6 May.

Thereafter, she had to be hospitalised on multiple occasions due to various health complications.

Professor Kazi Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman of the department of Political Science at the University of Dhaka believes that Khaleda Zia was a ‘charismatic’ leader in Bangladesh’s 54 year history.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said that Khaleda Zia fought against two autocrats, Ershad and Sheikh Hasina, for nearly two and a half decades. Although she rose from the background of an ordinary homemaker, she emerged as a successful ruler.

At the same time, she became a symbol of protest on the streets.

Her contributions elevated her to such a stature that her leadership quality remains rare not only in South Asia but also across the developing countries.