Staff Reporter :The ruling Awami League lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury has been elected new president of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).The election of the organisation for the post was held during Geneva Assembly on Thursday.In the election, Saber secured 169 votes and his nearest contestant parliament speaker of Australia Bronwyn Bishop got 95 votes, a parliament secretariat press release said.The IPU, established in 1889, is the international organisation of parliaments. The IPU is financed primarily by its members out of public funds. Bangladesh was one and only country who fought for the post from third world countries.Born in September 1961, Saber Hossain was first elected Member of the Parliament in June 1996. He was elected for a second term in 2008. Having been re-elected from Dhaka 9 constituency in January 2014, he is now serving his third term as a parliamentarian.Mr Abdelwahad RADI, former Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives, is the current President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He was elected to this post for a three-year mandate on 19 October 2011 at the 189th session of the Governing Council of the IPU in Bern. Our Parliamentary Correspondent adds: If we do not bother about our un-elected parliament, there is no reason for others to deny its existence. Our parliament delegation was allowed to take part in the proceedings of the IPU proof enough that the members recognized existence of our parliament. The government if so want, it could claim credit for its victory. Many parliaments of undemocratic countries are also members of IPU. It is not a body to legitimate any parliament, elected or un-elected.
