Fehmida Mirza of the Pakistan People's Party was elected as the country's first female speaker March 18, 2008. (B.K.Bangash/Associated Press)
In Depth
Pakistan
Pakistan's 1st female Speaker
New parliament breaks ground by electing three-time MP Fehmida Mirza
Last Updated March 19, 2008
CBC News
Pakistan's new parliament elected the country's first female Speaker on March 19, 2008, from the party of assassinated Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
Fehmida Mirza, a businesswoman and medical doctor who has been a legislator since 1997, won 249 of the 324 votes in a ballot in the National Assembly, the government's lower house. Her only challenger received 70.
Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party, which won the most seats in the Feb. 18 election, is preparing to lead a new coalition government united against U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf, whose supporters were routed in the polls.
Biography
Name: Dr. Fehmida Mirza
Party: Pakistan Peoples Party
Political history: Won National Assembly seat to represent riding in Badin in 1997, 2002 and 2008.
Born: Dec. 20, 1956, in Karachi
Profession: Agriculturist and businesswoman
Education: Bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery from Liaquat Medical College in Jamshoro, Pakistan, in 1982
Family: Married, with two sons and two daughters
Source: elections.com
Mirza's election as Speaker is seen as another manifestation of how the former army general is ceding control of the nuclear-armed country threatened by Islamic extremism to a new democratic government.
The elevation of the 51-year-old Mirza, who bears a striking resemblance to Bhutto, was a formality; she was nominated by her party the day before.
Her achievement is modest compared to that of her late party leader, Bhutto, who blazed a trail for female politicians, serving two terms as prime minister and long leading the party until her assassination on Dec. 27, 2007.
Bhutto was first elected as prime minister in 1988, becoming the first woman to lead the government of a Muslim-majority country in the modern age. She was only 35 at the time.
Mirza has vowed to run parliament "like a home." She got straight down to business on Wednesday, inviting the new Opposition leader, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, to speak first.
She later made her first intervention, ordering that private TV channels be allowed to broadcast the proceedings after journalists complained that staff had disconnected their cables.
Elahi, whose party is Musharraf's main political prop, pledged his "full co-operation" in the assembly. However, he appeared to urge the incoming government to drop plans to strip Musharraf of some of the president's remaining powers, which include the right to fire parliament and the government.
Elahi said the Opposition would avoid the desk-thumping and pandemonium that in the past made Pakistan almost ungovernable and paved the way for repeated military takeovers.
However, a different story was heard from Javed Hashmi, a leader of the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted when Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup. Hashmi indicated that the former army strongman could expect a rough ride
.He insisted parliament would not rubber-stamp the acts of a "dictator" — a reference to Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule in November to protect his disputed re-election as president from legal challenges.
Mirza's role and status inside her own party will come into play as parliamentarians now choose a new prime minister. The wrangling includes contenders such as Bhutto's son and political heir, Bilawal Zardari.
(With files from the Associated Press)
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Quick facts:
Population: 159,196,336 (July 2004 estimate)
Capital: Islamabad
Currency: Rupee
Major languages: Although English and Urdu are the official languages, the most-spoken languages are Punjabi, Sindhi and Siraiki.
Major religion: 77 per cent Sunni Muslim, 20 per cent Shia Muslim. Some Christian and Hindu.
Location: Southern Asia.
Area total: 803,940 sq. km, slightly smaller than B.C.
Border countries: Bordered by the Arabian Sea, between India on the east, Iran and Afghanistan on the west, and China in the north.
Natural resources: Pakistan has extensive natural gas reserves, some petroleum and poor quality coal.
Government: Federal republic, bicameral parliament consisting of a senate and national assembly.
History: In 1947, British India was separated into India and the Muslim state of Pakistan, with its east and west sections separated by mostly Hindu India. East Pakistan seceded in 1971 to become Bangladesh.
Origin of the name: "Pakistan" was coined by Muslim students at Cambridge University in Britain in 1933 as an acronym for the regions and nationalities that would make up the country: Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Iran, Sindh, Turkharistan, Afghanistan and Balochistan.