Pakistan Names Female Parliament Speaker
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Legislators elected Pakistan’s first female speaker of parliament yesterday, seating a follower — and lookalike — of the assassinated former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. Fehmida Mirza’s elevation reflected the air of liberalism blowing through the country’s politics since voters delivered a resounding defeat to backers of President Musharraf, the former general who has been a close American ally.
A businesswoman and physician elected to parliament three times, Ms. Mirza won 249 of the 324 votes cast in parliament’s lower house, the National Assembly. The Musharraf supporter, Israr Tareen, got only 70.
