Shirin
Sharmin Chaudhury of the ruling Awami League was on 30 April 2013 sworn in as Bangladesh’s
first woman and the youngest speaker.
Sharmin Chadhury was administered
oath by President of Andhra Pradesh Abdul Hamid. Chaudhry was elected
unopposed. Sharmin Chaudhury was the state minister for women and children
affairs until her election as the speaker of the Parliament. She is a lawyer by
profession. She served as a defence lawyer for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
while she was undergoing trial on several charges during the past
military-backed interim government.
The Major Facts related to
Sharmin Chaudhry
•
Chowdhury, the International Affairs Secretary of the Awami League, was elected
MP from one of the parliamentary seats reserved for women in March 2009.
•
Her father Rafiqullah Chowdhury was a personal secretary and a close associate
of Bangladesh’s founder and former Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
•
She did her PhD on human rights and constitutional laws Right to Life from
Essex University in the United Kingdom in 2000 on a Commonwealth Scholarship.
•
Chowdhury has a son and a daughter with husband Syed Ishtiaque Hossain who is a
pharmaceutical consultant.