Switzerland gets first Bangladeshi lawmaker

Iftikhar Ahmed, a former ILO official, has become the first ever Bangladeshi to become a Swiss lawmaker as he took oath of office in the Parliament (Conseil Communale) of the prosperous, picturesque French-speaking Commune of Founex (Canton of Vaud) on the outskirts of Geneva on Tuesday.

Ahmed is a development economist having worked at the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva for three decades (1974-2004) in the employment sector, says a press release.

He is the author of "Voices of the Working Children and Their Parents: Will Anyone Listen?" (London, Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd, 2015), and of "Technological Change and Agrarian Structure: A Study of Bangladesh" (Geneva, ILO, 1981), and co-authored many other publications.

Iftikhar Ahmed is the son of late Dr Momtazuddin Ahmed who was a vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University.