Saber Hossain Chowdhury has been elected president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international organisation of parliaments of 164 countries.
He has become the 28th president of the 125-year old organisation established in 1889.
The IPU is the focal point for worldwide parliamentary dialogue.
The ruling Awami League MP defeated three other candidates — Speaker of Australia’s House of Representatives Bronwyn Bishop, Indonesian MP Nurhayati Ali Assegaf and former Speaker of the Maldives Parliament Abdulla Shahid – in Thursday’s election on the concluding day of the 131st IPU Assembly in Geneva.
Chowdhury bagged 169 votes while his nearest rival Bishop got 95 votes, Parliament Secretariat’s PRO SM Manjur told bdnews24.com.
This is the second victory for Bangladesh in the international arena this year.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was elected Chairperson of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association on Oct 9.
An MP from Dhaka-9 constituency, Chowdhury is the third IPU president from South Asia after Najma Heptulla (1999-2002) and Gurdial Singh Dhillon (1973-1976), a statement on the IPU website said.
He is taking over from former Moroccan Parliament Speaker Abdelwahad Radi, whose three-year mandate ended Thursday.
Chowdhury, born on Sept 10, 1961 in Chittagong, is the current Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Textile and Jute.
He was first elected to Parliament in 1996. He served as the State Minister for LGRD and Cooperative and was the chief of Bangladesh Cricket Board during Awami League’s 1996-01 term.
From 2001 to 2009, he was made political secretary to party chief Sheikh Hasina.
Chowdhury was an MP in the last Parliament and was a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Forest and Environment.
“Politics and public service is about helping people to solve their problems, to live their dreams. My belief is to always improve upon what you find and leave a better, more peaceful world.
“I will be an active president, accessible and leading from the front,” he was quoted as saying in the IPU statement.
Congratulations from speaker, deputy speaker
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah have congratulated Saber Hossain Chowdhury on his feat on Thursday.
In a statement, the speaker said Chowdhury becoming the IPU chief as the first Bangladeshi has brightened the country’s image in the international arena.
“This rare feat is a milestone in the progress of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh,” she said.
In another statement, the deputy speaker said the Awami League lawmaker’s achievement was an example of Bangladesh’s development.
Source: Bd news24
