Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, long seen as a favorite to return to power in next year’s elections, died Tuesday at age 80, her party said.
The government declared three days of state mourning, with her funeral to be held Wednesday.
Despite years of ill health and imprisonment, Zia vowed in November to campaign in elections set for February – the first vote since a mass uprising toppled her archrival Sheikh Hasina last year.
Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely seen as a frontrunner and her son Tarique Rahman, who returned only on Thursday after 17 years in exile, is seen a potential prime minister if they win a majority.
In late November, Zia was rushed to the hospital, where, despite the best efforts of medics, her condition deteriorated from a raft of health issues.
Nevertheless, hours before her death, party workers had Monday submitted nomination papers on her behalf for three constituencies for the polls.
"The BNP chairperson and former prime minister, the national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6 a.m. (12 a.m. GMT), just after the Fajr (dawn) prayer," the party said in a statement.
"We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and request everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul," it added.
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," Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus said in a statement.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he hoped Zia's "vision and legacy will continue to guide our partnership," a warm message despite the strained relations between New Delhi and Dhaka since Hasina's fall.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Zia had been a "committed friend" to Islamabad, while China's ambassador in Dhaka Yao Wen offered his condolences.
"China will continue to maintain its longstanding and friendly ties with the BNP," he said.
Braving cold rain, mourners gathered Tuesday outside the hospital in Dhaka where Zia's body rests.
"This is an irreparable loss for the nation," senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told reporters, his voice choking with emotion.
"She chose prison over luxury and spent years behind bars," said Golam Kibria, 29, a BNP loyalist who said he was tortured under Hasina's government, calling Zia an "unmatched leader who can never be replaced."
Three-time prime minister Zia was jailed for corruption in 2018 under Hasina's government, which also blocked her from travelling abroad for medical treatment.
Zia was released last year, shortly after Hasina was forced from power.
Hasina, 78, sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity, remains in exile in India.
"I pray for the eternal peace and forgiveness of Begum Khaleda Zia's soul," Hasina said, in a statement on social media by her now-banned Awami League party.
Bangladesh's Prothom Alo newspaper, which said Zia had "earned the epithet of the 'uncompromising leader,'" reported that Rahman and other family members were by her side at the time of her death.
"The lives of politicians are marked by rises and falls," the newspaper wrote on Tuesday.
"Lawsuits, arrests, imprisonment, persecution, and attacks by adversaries are far from uncommon. Khaleda Zia endured such ordeals at their most extreme."
