Bangladesh’s first female Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, has died at the age of 80.

Bangladesh’s first female Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, has died at the age of 80 following a prolonged illness.

“Our favorite leader is no longer with us. She left us at 6 a.m. this morning,” Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced on Facebook.

Doctors said Monday evening that Zia’s condition was “extremely critical.” She was placed on life support, but it was not possible to give her several treatments at the same time given her age and poor general health, they explained.

Zia became Bangladesh’s first female head of government in 1991 after leading the BNP to victory in the country’s first democratic elections in 20 years.

Zia returned to the post of Prime Minister in 2001, before resigning in October 2006 before the general elections.

His political career has been marred by corruption allegations and a long-running political rivalry with Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted as prime minister last year.

Zia, who was the wife of late Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 for corruption.