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The death of former Bangladesh Prime Minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia could create a sympathy wave in favour of her son, Tarique Rahman, ahead of the country's elections scheduled for February 2026, foreign affairs expert Waiel Awwad said on Tuesday.
Speaking to ANI, Awwad said Khaleda Zia's death may strengthen Tarique Rahman's position within the BNP and among voters, as he is already seen as the party's leading face. On the demise of Bangladesh's first woman Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, Waiel Awwad said, "I think with the death of his (Tarique Rahman) mother that have also would created a kind of a sympathy waves among the voters in Bangladesh and he is the front-runner candidate for taking up the Prime Minister's post because of his popularity, because of his self-exile for the last 17 years and I think the Bangladesh National Party is trying to isolate itself from the other small parties" Zia's death comes at a time when her son, Tarique Rahman, has recently returned to Bangladesh after 17 years in exile, amid preparations for the national elections scheduled for February 2026. Begum Khaleda Zia died early on Tuesday at the age of 80 while undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka. According to a BNP statement posted on Facebook, Zia died at around 6 am (local time), shortly after the Fajr prayer. "We pray for the eternal peace of her soul and ask everyone to pray for her departed soul," it added. Zia was admitted to Dhaka's Evercare Hospital on November 23 with a lung infection. The former Prime Minister had been suffering from multiple ailments for a long time, including heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, liver cirrhosis and kidney complications. Earlier this month, she was sent to London for advanced medical treatment. (ANI)
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