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Bangladesh’s army-backed government has released former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from gaol in a bid to stop her Nationalist Party from boycotting elections. Mrs Zia’s rival, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, was released in June.
The two women, who alternated in power from 1991 until a coup in 2007, stood accused of corruption and electoral fraud.
Announcing what amounts to a political defeat, the government explained that “women… can’t govern with ‘em, can’t govern without ‘em.”
The release paves the way for multiparty elections in December, with 12 million bogus names expunged from the electoral roll. Suspicion over electoral fraud fell on Mrs Zia and Mrs Hasina after most of those names also appeared in their Facebook friends lists.
