DHAKA: Imprisoned former Bangladesh Prime Mini­s­ter Khaleda Zia is critically ill and needs urgent medical care, a top leader of her party said on Tuesday.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Ala­m­gir, a top aide to Khaleda Zia, said the 72-year-old opposition leader had suffered a recent mild stroke and multiple complications. Doctors have warned that she could be paralysed if she isn’t treated quickly, he said, adding that she can no longer walk on her own.

The government has offe­red to have Khaleda Zia admitted to two state-run medical facilities, but Khal­eda Zia and her party insist she needs to go to the private hospital where she has long been treated.

“She needs regular care by our trusted doctors,” Ala­mgir, secretary general of Zia’s Bangladesh Nation­alist Party, said in an interview. “We don’t have confidence” in the hospitals the government has offered, he said.

Khaleda Zia was convicted in Feb­ruary of misusing power by embezzling some $250,000 in donations meant for an orphanage trust.

That conviction means that Khaleda Zia, the archrival of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, could be barred from running in December national elections. Bangl­adesh law says anyone impri­soned for more than two years cannot run for office for the next five years.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018