Khaleda Zia’s return raises pressure on Bangladesh interim Govt to announce election
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Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia returned to Dhaka on Tuesday after spending four months in London undergoing medical treatment, as her arrival triggered renewed calls for the interim government to declare a national election date.
Her return came at a time when the country, under a caretaker administration since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in a student-led uprising last August, stands at a critical political crossroads.
Zia’s comeback holds symbolic importance for her party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which has been without its key figure during a period of intense political uncertainty, while Hasina, her longtime political rival, remains in exile in India.
The interim government, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has committed to holding elections either by December this year or June next year, depending on how swiftly reforms are implemented. However, with Zia now back in the country, public and political pressure on the authorities to confirm an election timeline is likely to escalate.
Zia, a three-time prime minister, had previously been convicted on charges of misappropriating funds from charitable trusts and sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison during Hasina’s tenure. The BNP had dismissed the charges as politically motivated. In two separate verdicts delivered in November 2024 and January this year, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court overturned her convictions, clearing her of all charges and removing legal barriers to her political return.
Her renewed presence in national politics adds a significant dimension to the ongoing power vacuum, especially as the BNP prepares for the upcoming elections under the leadership of her son, Tarique Rahman, who has been directing the party’s activities from exile in London.
Zia, who became Bangladesh’s first female prime minister and remains a central figure in its political history, now returns to a changed landscape where her role may again become pivotal.