Shirin elected Commonwealth Parliamentary Association chairperson
Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury became the first Bangladeshi to be elected as chairperson of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association today.
A total of 321 voters from 175 parliaments in 53 countries across the globe participated in the election that took place in the capital of Cameroon--Yaounde.
Sharmin defeated her lone competitor Juliana O’Connor-Connoly, speaker of legislative assembly of Cayman Islands by three votes, SM Manzoor, public relations director at JS, told The Daily Star.
Bangladesh became the member of CPA in 1973 which was founded in 1911 as the Empire Parliamentary Association and its affairs were administered by the United Kingdom Branch.
The original member Branches were Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Evolving with the commonwealth, the CPA in 1948 adopted its present name, changed its rules to enable all member Branches to participate in the association’s management, and established a separate secretariat to manage its affairs.
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