Fahmida Mirza arrives at Parliament House in Islamabad, March 19, 2008ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (VOA News), March 19, 2008:
Pakistan's parliament has elected its first female speaker. "Dr. Fehmida Mirza has received 249 votes," incumbent Chaudhry Amir Hussain, a supporter of President Pervez Musharraf, announced the vote total in the 342-seat National Assembly.
Parliament members then pounded their open hands on their desks for 30 seconds to applaud Fehmida Mirza of the Pakistan Peoples Party. The 51-year-old medical doctor and mother of four children is a third-generation Pakistani politician. Her father twice served in the cabinet; her husband was a member of parliament; and her father-in-law was a Supreme Court justice.
Mirza's manner of speech and dress evoke images of Benazir Bhutto, the head of the PPP, who was assassinated on the campaign trail less than three months ago.
Mirza will be tasked with controlling a legislature where two traditional rivals, Mrs. Bhutto's party and the Muslim League faction of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, have agreed to share power. She acknowledges it may not be an ideal setup for governing Pakistan, but says it can work.
"Nowhere in the world you get the ideal situation," said Mirza. "Even in our neighborhood, India, there are coalition governments. So you should know and this country should learn how to move with the coalitions. There is nothing unusual having coalitions in the country."
By Steve Herman
VOA News, Islamabad
