Khaleda Zia, a longstanding rival of Sheikh Hasina, was imprisoned in 2018 after receiving a 17-year sentence for corruption.
In a significant political shift, Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin announced the release of former Prime Minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia shortly after Sheikh Hasina resigned as Prime Minister and left the violence-stricken country on Monday.
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The decision to release Zia, who leads the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was made during a meeting with opposition party representatives, according to an official statement. The announcement indicated that President Shahabuddin had “decided unanimously to free Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia immediately.”
The high-level meeting included Army Chief Waker-Uz-Zaman, heads of the navy and air force, and top opposition leaders from the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Khaleda Zia, a longstanding rival of Hasina, was imprisoned in 2018 after receiving a 17-year sentence for corruption.
Who is Khaleda Zia?
Khaleda Zia, the head of the main opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was born on August 15, 1945, in Bengal’s Jalpaiguri.
Her political journey began after the assassination of her husband, Ziaur Rahman, who served as President of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981 and founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1978.
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In 1991, she became the first woman Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the second female prime minister in the Muslim world, following Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto.
She served a second term as Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. After her term ended in 2006, elections scheduled for January 2007 were postponed due to political unrest, leading to a military takeover.
During the interim military rule, Khaleda Zia and her two sons faced corruption charges.
Currently, Zia is confined to a hospital due to multiple health issues and has frequently traveled abroad for medical treatment.
Bangladesh’s Political Turmoil
On Monday, Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina resigned from her position as Prime Minister and fled to India amid month-long, large-scale, and deadly anti-government protests.
Hasina, now 76, is seeking asylum in the UK and will stay in India until her asylum application is processed. However, there has been no official confirmation from the UK regarding her asylum request.
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In the meantime, Bangladesh’s Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman has assumed control of the administration, forming an interim government. In a televised address, General Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed Hasina’s resignation and assumed responsibility for the government.
The country has been experiencing widespread protests against a controversial quota system that reserves 30 percent of government jobs for families of veterans from the 1971 liberation war.