Tarique Rahman Set to Return to Bangladesh After 17 Years as Former PM Khaleda Zia's Health Deteriorates

Khaleda Zia has been receiving medical treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka.

Dhaka:

Tarique Rahman, the son of critically ill former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, will be returning to Bangladesh on December 25 after spending 17 years in self-exile in London, according to an announcement made by the BNP on Friday.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) made this declaration as the health condition of its 80-year-old chairperson Khaleda Zia worsened, necessitating ventilator support on Thursday.

"We are pleased to announce that our Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman will return to Dhaka on December 25," stated BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir during a press briefing following the party's policy-making standing committee meeting.

Alamgir further added: "The party welcomes him." The 60-year-old Rahman has resided in London since 2008. Due to unclear circumstances, he has been unable to return to his homeland and be with his ailing mother. Instead, he has been leading the party remotely as its de facto leader through virtual platforms.

This announcement came just one day after Bangladesh's election commission revealed that the country's 13th parliamentary elections would be held on February 12.

The BNP had previously indicated that if Khaleda Zia is deemed medically unfit, Rahman would serve as prime minister should the party win the election.

Khaleda Zia has been hospitalized at Dhaka's Evercare Hospital since November 23, dealing with multiple health complications.

On Thursday, the former premier was placed on "elective ventilator support to give rest to her lungs and other vital organs." The BNP has re-emerged as the leading political force in Bangladesh's transformed political landscape following a student-led violent street protest that overthrew then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government on August 5, 2024.