Bangladesh ex-PM Zia calls for swift elections

Dhaka: The leader of Bangladesh’s key political party Khaleda Zia called on Thursday for interim authorities to undertake “minimal” reforms so elections can be held swiftly after a revolution last year.

“People expect a widely accepted election after swift and minimal reforms to restore the country’s democratic system,” Zia, a former prime minister and leader of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), said in a broadcast.

Zia, 79, served as prime minister of the South Asian nation twice but was jailed for corruption in 2018 during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina, her successor and lifelong rival.

Zia was released after Hasina was toppled in August and fled into exile in India.

She flew to Britain in January for medical treatment, from where she made an online address to party members, her first in six years.