Bangladesh’s ailing ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia in CCU

Former Bangladesh prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was on Thursday admitted to a coronary care unit (CCU) at a specialised hospital where she was being treated for several health issues, the party media cell said here.

The 80-year-old three-time prime minister and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was admitted to a cabin at the hospital on Sunday night when she developed a chest infection that affected both her heart and lungs.

“She is currently receiving treatment at the CCU under close observation of a medical board comprising Bangladeshi and foreign doctors,” BNP media cell member Shairul Kabir Khan told reporters. Khan said he met with Zia’s personal physician and BNP’s policy making standing committee member AZM Zahid Hossain, who confirmed the development that the party supremo was being treated particularly for lung and heart infections.

 BNP, meanwhile, sought countrymen’s prayers for Zia’s speedy recovery and added the party would organise special prayers after Jumma prayers (on Friday) to seek divine blessings. Zia, wife of slain Bangladesh president Ziaur Rahman, has been suffering from multiple health complications, including liver and kidney issues, diabetes, arthritis, and eye-related illnesses. Her only son and BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman has been living in London since 2008.

Her other son Arafat Rahman died of a cardiac arrest in 2025.  BNP has emerged as the frontrunner in Bangladesh’s changed political landscape after a student-led violent street protest toppled prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League on August 5, 2024.