Prime minister Hasina on top in battle of the Bangladesh Begums

• Sarwar Alam
• 24 December, 2018

By: Sarwar Alam

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina heads to the polls in Bangladesh this week on course for a historic victory, while her ailing opponent faces an uncertain future in a colonial-era Dhaka jail. Bangladesh’s “Battling Begums” have been fighting each other for three decades, but the 71-year-old Hasina is set to extend her record as the country’s longest serving leader after dispatching Khaleda Zia, her chief rival. The two women have been political royalty — begums — since the 1980s. Zia, 73, is the widow of a military dictator and Hasina’s father was the country’s founding leader. They joined forces to dethrone military dictator…

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