Loyalists cheer as ex-PM Zia returns home to Bangladesh

DHAKA: Bangladesh´s ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia, chair of the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), returned home to cheering crowds on Tuesday after months abroad for medical treatment.

Zia, 79, led the South Asian nation twice but was jailed for corruption in 2018 during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina, her successor and lifelong rival who barred her from travelling abroad for medical care.

The 79-year-old was released from house arrest after a student-led mass uprising ousted Hasina in August 2024.

She flew to Britain in January and returned on Tuesday, BNP spokesperson Shairul Kabir said.

Thousands of party activists welcomed her, gathering on either side of the road leading to the airport, carrying photographs of Zia and waving party flags and placards with welcome messages.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, who has led an interim government since Hasina fled into exile as crowds stormed her palace, has said elections will be held as early as December, and by June 2026 at the latest.

“This is a significant day for the country and the people of Bangladesh,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the BNP´s secretary general, told reporters.

“The celebration we are witnessing is not only an outpouring of emotion but also a demonstration of our strength.”

Zia´s rival Hasina remains in self-imposed exile in India and has defied an arrest warrant from Dhaka over charges of crimes against humanity.