Begum Khaleda Zia (born 15 August 1945) is a
Bangladeshi politician who was the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to
1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. When she took office in 1991, she was the
first woman in the country's history and second in the Muslim world (after
Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan in 1988–1990) to head a democratic government as
prime minister. Khaleda Zia was the First Lady of Bangladesh during the
presidency of her husband Ziaur Rahman. She is the chairperson and leader of
the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which was founded by Ziaur Rahman in the
late 1970s.
After a military coup in 1982, led by Army Chief
General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, Khaleda Zia helped lead the continuing
movement for democracy until the fall of military dictator Ershad in 1990.
Khaleda became prime minister following the victory of the BNP in the 1991
general election. She also served briefly in the short-lived government in
1996, when other parties had boycotted the first election. In the next round of
general elections of 1996, the Awami League came to power. Her party came to
power again in 2001. She has been elected to five separate parliamentary
constituencies in the general elections of 1991, 1996 and 2001.
In its list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the
World, Forbes magazine ranked Khaleda Zia at number 14 in 2004, number 29 in
2005, and number 33 in 2006.
Following her government's term end in 2006, the
scheduled January 2007 elections were delayed due to political violence and
in-fighting, resulting in a bloodless military takeover of the caretaker
government. During its interim rule, it charged Khaleda Zia and her two sons
with corruption.
For the better part of the last two decades,
Khaleda's chief rival has been Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina. The two women
have alternated as non-interim prime ministers since 1991.
Khaleda Zia’s Early
life
Zia was born to father Iskandar Majumder, a
businessman, and mother Taiyaba Majumder in Dinajpur District in north-western
Bangladesh. Khaleda Majumder married Ziaur Rahman in 1960, an Army officer who
became the 7th President of Bangladesh in 1977. He ruled until 1981, when he
was assassinated in a military coup.
Khaleda Zia’s Political
career
When President Ziaur Rahman was killed, Justice
Abdus Sattar became chairman of the party and Khaleda Zia the vice-chairman.
When Sattar was ousted from the presidency by the military coup of 1982,
Khaleda Zia was elected chairperson. She thus became head of the Bangladesh
Nationalist Party, which her husband had founded in the late 1970s. She was
active in opposing what she and her supporters considered the military
autocracy of Ershad. During the autocratic rule of Hussain Muhammed Ershad the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party formed a seven-party alliance. Khaleda Zia was
detained more than seven times because of her protests against Ershad. Khaleda
Zia came to power three times. She was the longest serving Prime Minister of
Bangladesh as she served for 10 years.
A neutral caretaker government in Bangladesh oversaw
elections on 27 February 1991 that were broadly considered to be free, fair and
truly democratic, following eight years of a military government.
The BNP won 140 seats, 11 short of a majority. As it
was the only party capable of forming a government, Khaleda Zia was sworn in as
the country's first female prime minister on 20 March with the support of a
majority of the deputies in parliament.
The acting president Shahabuddin Ahmed granted
Khaleda Zia nearly all of the powers that were vested in the president at the
time, effectively returning Bangladesh to a parliamentary system in September
1991. With a unanimous vote, Parliament passed the 12th amendment to the
Constitution in 1991. The BNP-led government formally restored the
parliamentary system.
When the opposition boycotted the 15 February 1996
election, the BNP had a landslide victory in the sixth Jatiya Sangshad. Other
major parties demanded that a neutral caretaker government be appointed to
oversee the elections. The short-lived parliament hastily introduced the
Caretaker Government by passing the 13th amendment to the Constitution. The
parliament was dissolved to pave the way for parliamentary elections within 90
days.
In the 12 June 1996 elections, BNP lost to Sheikh
Hasina's Awami League. Winning 116 seats, the BNP emerged as the largest opposition
party in the country's parliamentary history.
The BNP formed a four-party alliance on 6 January
1999 to increase its chances to return to power in the next general elections.
These included its former political foe the Jatiya Party, founded by President
Ershad after he led a military government, and the Islamic parties of
Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and the Islami Oikya Jot. It encouraged protests
against the ruling Awami League.
Many residents strongly criticized Khaleda Zia and
BNP for allying with Jamaat-e-Islami, which had opposed the independence of
Bangladesh in 1971. The four-party alliance participated in the 1 October 2001
general elections, winning two-thirds of the seats in parliament and 46% of the
vote (compared to the principal opposition party's 40%). Khaleda Zia was sworn
in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
She worked on a 100-day program to fulfill most of
her election pledges to the nation. During this term, the share of domestic
resources in economic development efforts grew. Bangladesh began to attract a
higher level of international investment for development of the country's
infrastructure, energy resources and businesses, including from the United
States, Great Britain, and Japan. Restoration of law and order was an
achievement during the period.
Khaleda Zia promoted neighborly relations in her
foreign policy. In her "look-east policy," she worked to bolster
regional cooperation in South Asia and adherence to the UN Charter of Human
Rights. She negotiated settlement of international disputes, and renounced the
use of force in international relations. Bangladesh began to participate in
United Nations international peacekeeping efforts. In 2006, Forbes magazine
featured her administration in a major story praising her achievements. Her
government worked to educate young girls (nearly 70% of Bangladeshi women were
illiterate) and distribute food to the poor (half of Bangladesh's 135 million
people live below the poverty line). Her government promoted strong GDP growth
(5%) based on economic reforms and support of an entrepreneurial culture.
When Khaleda Zia became Prime Minister for the third
time, the GDP growth rate of Bangladesh remained above 6 percent. The
Bangladesh per capita national income rose to 482 dollars. Foreign exchange
reserve of Bangladesh had crossed 3 billion dollars from the previous 1 billion
dollars. The foreign direct investments of Bangladesh had risen to 2.5 billion
dollars. The industrial sector of the GDP had exceeded 17 percent at the end of
Khaleda Zia's office.
On 29 October 2006, Khaleda Zia's term in office
ended. In accordance with the constitution, a caretaker government would manage
in the 90-day interim before general elections. On the eve of the last day,
rioting broke out on the streets of central Dhaka due to uncertainty over who
would become Chief Advisor (Chief of Caretaker Government of Bangladesh). Under
the constitution, the immediate past Chief Justice was to be appointed. But,
Chief Justice Khondokar Mahmud Hasan (K M Hasan) declined the position due to
ill health. President Iajuddin Ahmed, as provided for in the constitution,
assumed power as Chief Advisor on 29 October 2006. He tried to arrange
elections and bring all political parties to the table during months of
violence; 40 people were killed and hundreds injured in the first month after
the government's resignation.
Mukhlesur Rahman Chowdhury, the Presidential
Advisor, met with Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, and other political parties to
try to resolve issues and schedule elections. Negotiations continued against a
backdrop of political bickering, protests and polarisation that threatened the
economy. Officially on 26 December 2006, all political parties joined the
planned 22 January 2007 elections. The Awami League pulled out at the last
minute, and in January the military intervened to back the caretaker government
for a longer interim period. It held power until holding general elections in
December 2008.
On 11 January 2007, Army Chief General Moeen U
Ahmed, along with a group of military officers, intervened to stage a bloodless
coup and impose a state of emergency. They compelled Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed to step
down as Chief Advisor of the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh. He continued
as the President of Bangladesh. Elections scheduled for 22 January were
postponed. The new caretaker government was led by former Bangladesh Bank
governor Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed. In fighting against corruption, it filed charges
against the leaders of both the major parties. Both parties had been widely
accused of corruption when leading the government.
In March 2007 Khaleda Zia's eldest son, Tarique
Rahman, was arrested for corruption. Enforcing the suppression of political
activity under the state of emergency, from 9 April, the government barred
politicians from visiting Khaleda Zia's residence. Zia's youngest son, Arafat
Rahman (Coco), was arrested for corruption on 16 April.
United News Bangladesh (UNB) said in April there was
speculation that Zia would relocate to Saudi Arabia. It noted her brother,
Major (Retd.) Sayeed Iskandar, was trying to negotiate her exit from Bangladesh
with the interim administration. The New Nation reported on 17 April that Khaleda
Zia had agreed to go into exile in return for the release of her youngest son.
The report said the Saudi government had expressed its willingness to accept
Khaleda and her family as royal guests.
On 19 April, Khondker Babul Chowdhury, a member of
the BNP national executive committee, filed an appeal urging the court to order
the government not to send Khaleda abroad against her wishes, and challenging
her reported confinement to her house. On 22 April the High Court issued a
ruling for the government to explain or prove within five days that she was not
confined to her house. On 25 April, in what was viewed as a reversal, the
government said that Zia's movement was not restricted and that she had not
been under any pressure to leave the country. On a related issue, it dropped
the ban against the return of Hasina, who had been out of the country. On 7
May, the High Court ordered the government to explain continuing restrictions
on Khaleda Zia.
On 17 July, the Anti Corruption Commission
Bangladesh (ACC) sent notices to both Zia and Hasina, requesting that details
of their assets be submitted to the commission within one week. Zia was asked
to appear in court on 27 September 2007 in connection with a case for not
submitting service returns for Daily Dinkal Publications Limited for years.
On 2 September 2007, the interim government filed
charges of corruption against Khaleda Zia related to the awarding of contracts
to Global Agro Trade Company in 2003; she was arrested 3 September. Her
youngest son Arafat Rahman (Coco), along with 11 others, was also detained
after police filed a corruption case against them involving irregularities at
Chittagong port.
A bribery case was filed against Sheikh Hasina, the
head of the Awami League. She was detained separately in a special jail. On the
same day, Khaleda Zia expelled her party Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan
and Joint Secretary General Whip Ashraf Hossain for breaching party discipline.
After Khaleda Zia was detained, BNP standing
committee members chose former Finance Minister Saifur Rahman and former Water
Resources minister Major (Rtd.) Hafizuddin Ahmed to lead the BNP for the time
being; Zia's supporters did not recognize this. Bangladesh Election Commission
subsequently invited Hafizuddin's faction, rather than Zia's, to participate in
talks, effectively recognizing the former as the legitimate BNP. Zia challenged
this in court, but her appeal was rejected on 10 April 2007.
Khaleda Zia's youngest son Arafat Rahman (Coco) was
released in August 2007, and her eldest son Tarique Rahman (Pino) was released
on bail on 3 September 2007. Zia had been granted bail on two of her four cases
by this point, but remained in jail because bail had not been granted for the
other two. Her lawyers said on 4 September that they would also seek bail for
the other two cases. Khaleda Zia was released from jail on bail on 11 September
2008.
On 30 September, Khaleda Zia was granted bail by the
High Court, which ruled that the trial should be stopped on the grounds that
she could not be charged under emergency laws for actions that had occurred
prior to the state of emergency being imposed in January 2007.
The government appealed this decision. On 4 October
2007 the Bangladesh Supreme Court ruled that Khaleda Zia should not be granted
bail and that the trial could continue. In December 2008, the caretaker
government organized general elections where the Awami League and its Grand
Alliance (with 13 smaller parties) took a two-thirds majority of seats in the
parliament. Sheikh Hasina became prime minister, and her party formed
government in 2009.
General Ziaur Rehman and his family lived in a large
house in the Dhaka Cantonment, which was first built as the residence of the
Deputy Chief of Staff (DCS) of the Bangladesh Army. When Ziaur Rahman was
appointed DCS Major General, he and his family moved there. After he became
President of Bangladesh, he kept the house as his residence. Following his
assassination in 1981, the Acting President Justice, Abdus Sattar, leased the
house "for life" to Khaleda Zia, for Taka 101. When the Army took
over the government, Lieutenant General Hussain Mohammad Ershad, Army Chief of
Bangladesh and Chief Martial Law Administrator, confirmed this arrangement in
1982. After the BNP came to power in democratic elections in 1991, it did not
disturb the arrangement.
In November 2010, the Awami League government
enforced existing law to reclaim the house where Khaleda Zia had lived for
nearly 40 years for a nominal cost. Khaleda Zia moved to the house of her
brother Sayeed Iskandar at Gulshan.
Khaleda Zia made some high-profile foreign visits in
the later part of 2012. Invited to Saudi Arabia in August by the royal family,
she met with the Saudi crown prince and defence minister Salman bin Abdulaziz
Al Saud to talk about bilateral ties. She tried to promote better access for
Bangladeshi migrant workers to the Saudi labour market, which was in decline at
the time.
She went to People's Republic of China in October,
at the invitation of the government. She met with Chinese leaders including
Vice President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China's international
affairs chief Wang Jiarui. Xi became China's Paramount Leader in 2012.
Talks in China related to trade and prospective
Chinese investment in Bangladesh, particularly the issue of financing Padma
Bridge. At the beginning of 2012, the World Bank, a major prospective
financier, had withdrawn, accusing government ministers of graft. The BNP
announced that the Chinese funding for a second Padma Bridge was confirmed
during her visit.
On 28 October 2012, Khaleda Zia visited India to meet
with President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a number of
officials including foreign minister Salman Khurshid, national security adviser
Shivshankar Menon, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai and BJP leader and leader of
opposition Sushma Swaraj. Talks were scheduled to cover bilateral trade and
regional security.
Khaleda Zia's India visit was considered notable as
BNP had been considered to have been anti-India compared to its rival Awami
League. At her meeting with Prime Minister Singh, Zia said her party wanted to
work with India for mutual benefit, including the fight against extremism.
Indian officials announced they had come to agreement with her to pursue a
common geopolitical doctrine in the greater region to discourage terrorists.
Khaleda Zia’s Awards
and honors
On 24 May 2011, the New Jersey State Senate honored
Khaleda Zia as a "Fighter for Democracy". It was the first time the
state Senate had so honored any foreign leader and reflects the state's
increasing population of immigrants and descendants from South Asia.
Khaleda Zia’s Birthday
controversy
Khaleda Zia claims 15 August as her birthday, which
is a matter of controversy in Bangladesh politics. 15 August is the day many
immediate family members of Zia's political rival, Sheikh Hasina, including her
father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were killed. As a result of the deaths, 15 August
is officially declared National Mourning Day of Bangladesh. None of Khaleda
Zias government issued identification documents show her birthday on 15 August.
Her matriculation examination certificate lists a birth date of 9 August 1945.
Her marriage certificate lists 5 September 1945. Zia's passport indicates a
birth date of 19 August 1945. Kader Siddiqui, a political ally of Khaleda urged
her not to celebrate her birthday on 15 August. The High Court filed a petition
against Khaleda Zia on this issue. (Source: Wikipedia)
