UNB, Dhaka :
The government considers the success of Bangladesh Speaker in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Executive Committee as reflection of the confidence reposed by the international community in Bangladesh parliament. ‘This is the reflection of confidence reposed by the international community in Bangladesh parliament and the strong credentials of Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury,” said a Foreign Ministry media note on Friday.
Earlier, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was elected Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. She was the first ever Bangladeshi who contested for the post.
From 175 parliaments in 53 countries, 321 voters took part in the election held in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, on Thursday.
Sharmin defeated her lone rival Juliana O’Connor-Connoly, Speaker of legislative assembly of Cayman Islands, by three votes.
In 1973, Bangladesh got the membership of CPA, 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 UK.
Evolving with the Commonwealth, in 1948, the association adopted its present name, changed its rules to enable all the member branches to participate in its management, and established a separate secretariat to manage its affairs.
