Bangladesh to get first woman parliament speaker

Bangladesh will get its first ever woman speaker for its parliament as the ruling Awami League parliamentary party unanimously nominated Minister of Women and Child Affairs Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury for the post Monday evening. reported Xinhua.

She is likely to be elected without contest as the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia is boycotting the parliament and so far there was no words from BNP that it will contest for the post.

The post fell vacant as Speaker Abdul Hamid was installed as the president of the country last week.

Chowdhury joined politics after the Awami League came to power early 2009 as she was chosen as a member of parliament (MP) from the reserved women quota.

The 300-seat Bangladesh parliament has 50 seats reserved for women besides having provision for women to contest the national election with their male counterparts. Most of the reserved women seats are filled by the ruling party.