Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has been elected as the speaker of parliament for the third time in a row.
The attending lawmakers of the newly formed 11th parliament unanimously elected Dr Shirin, who was the sole candidate, by verbal votes after Awami League General Secretary nominated her with the support of Awami League Chief Whip Nur-E-Alam Chowdhury, reports UNB.
The members of parliament, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, shouted "yes" in favour of the proposal presided over by the 10th parliament's Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah.
President Abdul Hamid then swore in the speaker. As the first woman speaker of the parliament, this is her third term.
Then, Whip Atiur Rahman proposed Fazle Rabbi Miah for the deputy speaker of the 11th parliament. The MPs unanimously voted him in. The president also took the oath of Fazle Rabbi Miah as the deputy speaker.
Also Read- Maiden session of the 11th parliament kicks off
The first session of the new parliament began at 3pm on Wednesday presided by Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah.
In attendance were Jatiya Party leaders GM Quader and Raushon Ershad and other leaders.
Dr Shirin was elected as the speaker in April 2013 after the then-Speaker Abdul Hamid took on the mantle of president following the death of Zillur Rahman. She was an MP from the seats reserved for women in the parliament in 2009. During her tenure as an MP, she performed the duties of the state minister for women and children's affairs. In the 2014 elections, she won in the Rangpur-6 constituency which was vacated by Sheikh Hasina. Dr Shirin was elected as the chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association from 2014 to 2017.
Before her foray into politics, she was part of Sheikh Hasina's legal defence team when the Awami League president was facing several lawsuits during the caretaker government regime in 2007-2008. She completed her SSC and HSC from Holy Cross Girls' School and College. Her alma mater is Dhaka University. She obtained a PhD in constitutional law and human rights from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom.
