Begum Khaleda Zia was widely regarded as an uncompromising leader, particularly because of her inevitable role for democracy in Bangladesh. For her commitment to democracy, New Jersey’s State Senate also honoured her as “Fighter for Democracy” in 2011. Earlier, since joining politics after the assassination of her husband, Ziaur Rahman, in Chattogram on 30 May, 1981, during a failed military coup, she helped in shaping the country’s democratic trajectory in a way that no one else could ever do. Her struggle for the ouster of military ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad made her emerge as a leading figure in the pro-democracy movement.
She initiated an all-out movement for restoring democracy, forming a seven-party alliance in 1983 to put an end to Ershad’s dictatorship. Between 1983 and 1990, she was arrested seven times for her role in street protests and political mobilisation.
Not only that, but also through electoral victories, defeats and boycotts, Khaleda Zia’s engagement with the parliamentary process reflects both the promise and the challenges of Bangladesh’s evolving democracy. She boycotted the widely criticised 1986 general election, refusing to legitimise a rigged process, even though other major parties – Awami League, Jamaat-e-Islami and the Communist Party of Bangladesh – chose to take part in the polls.
Meanwhile, Khaleda Zia led the mobilisation of BNP’s student front, Jatiyatabadi Chatra Dal, and they won 270 of 321 student unions across the country. These students were instrumental in the movement that led to the fall of Ershad’s regime.
The nation did not forget to award her that level of dedication towards establishing rights for the common people of the country. As a result, she won the 1991 general elections and became the first woman prime minister in Bangladesh as well as the second in Muslim World. That election was historically important, as it restored parliamentary democracy and marked a peaceful transition of power through the ballot box. Begum Zia’s leadership during this period established her as a central electoral contender and a symbol of competitive politics in Bangladesh.
She became the premier again after the February 1996 elections, and within a month she handed over power to a caretaker government to oversee a fresh election in June the same year when BNP lost but retained 116 out of 300 constituencies to become the largest opposition in Bangladesh's parliamentary history.
Begum Zia was re-elected as the prime minister in 2001 as her party regained power by promising to eliminate corruption and terrorism. Forbes Magazine ranked her at number 29 in 2005 in its list of the hundred most powerful women in the world for her role in promoting women’s education and empowerment. After completing her five-year tenure as the head of the four-party alliance government – comprising BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, a faction of Jatiya Party (Naziur) and Islami Oikya Jote – in 2006, she handed over power to a caretaker administration as per the constitution, which was widely appreciated by the people of the country as well as the political analysts and foreign dignitaries.
In later years, Khaleda Zia’s participation in parliamentary elections became more constrained due to political confrontations, legal challenges and questions over electoral neutrality. Since 2009, when the Sheikh Hasina-led government turned Bangladesh into an authoritarian state, Begum Zia renewed her fight for democracy. The outcome was inevitable. The BNP boycotted the 2014 elections, expressing concerns about the abolition of the caretaker government system, which was essential for free and fair polls. Although Begum Zia did not actively contest later elections, her stance and political directives continued to influence BNP’s electoral strategies and public discourse.
On top of everything that she gained in her political life is her unique record of never losing in any election from any constituency. She was elected in five separate parliamentary constituencies in the general elections of 1991, 1996 and 2001. In 2008, she won in all three constituencies from where she contested.
Through a decade of her relentless persistence in the anti-autocrat struggle and active participation in the country’s national parliamentary elections, Khaleda Zia elevated the BNP to new heights. Her undeniable role in politics is more than individual candidacy or party leadership; rather, it reflects the broader struggles over democratic norms, electoral credibility and political power in the country.
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