Kathmandu – Bangladesh’s first female prime minister Khaleda Zia has passed away at the age of 80 after suffering from prolonged illness.

Zia became Bangladesh’s first female head of government in 1991 after leading her party to victory in the country’s first democratic election in 20 years.

Physicians had said on Monday said her condition was “extremely critical”. She was put on life support, but it was not possible to provide multiple treatments at the same time given her age and overall poor health, they said.

Despite her poor health, her party had earlier said that Zia would contest general elections expected in February, the first since a revolution which led to the ousting of Zia’s rival, Sheikh Hasina, BBC News reported. 

Bangladesh has declared three days of state mourning, with Khaleda’s funeral to be held on Wednesday.

Bangladeshi politics had for decades been defined by the bitter feud between the two women, who alternated between government and opposition.

“Our favourite leader is no longer with us. She left us at 6am this morning,” Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced on Facebook on Tuesday.

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Bangladesh “has lost a great guardian”.

“Through her uncompromising leadership, the nation was repeatedly freed from undemocratic conditions and inspired to regain liberty,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a statement.

“I pray for the eternal peace and forgiveness of Begum Khaleda Zia’s soul,” ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina said, in a statement on social media by her now banned Awami League party.

Zia was jailed for corruption in 2018 under Hasina’s government, which also blocked her from travelling abroad for medical treatment.

She was released last year, shortly after Hasina was forced from power.

Her son, Tarique Rahman, returned to Dhaka last week after 17 years in self-imposed exile, where he was welcomed back by huge crowds of joyous supporters.

Rahman will lead the party through the February 12general election, and is expected to be put forward as prime minister if his party wins a majority, the Dawn newspaper reported.