Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman will return to Bangladesh on 25 December, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party said on Friday.
“We are pleased to announce that our Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman will return to Dhaka on 25 December,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters after a meeting of the party’s policy making standing committee. Alamgir added: “The party welcomes him.”
Rahman, who has been living in self exile in London for 17 years, is the party’s acting chairman. For obscure reasons, he has been unable to return home and be with his ailing mother. Instead, he steers the party as its de facto leader through virtual platforms.
The announcement came a day after the 80-year-old BNP chairperson’s health deteriorated and she was placed on ventilator support on Thursday.
Zia has been undergoing treatment at Dhaka's Evercare Hospital since 23 November for multiple health complications.
According to the hospital, she was placed on elective ventilator support to give rest to her lungs and other vital organs.
The announcement follows the Election Commission’s declaration on Thursday that Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary elections will be held on 12 February.
The BNP earlier said that if Zia is deemed physically unfit, Rahman would be the prime minister if the party were voted to power.
The BNP has re-emerged as the frontrunner in Bangladesh's changed political landscape after a student led violent street protest toppled then prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on 5 August, 2024.