Speaker eyes Chatkhil seat

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has hinted at contesting from the Chatkhil constituency (Noakhali-2), a seat the Awami League never won since 1973.

Chaudhury, a local reserved seat MP, on Sunday visited several areas including Dashghoria Bazar under Borocourt Union and Sonaimurhi Bazar at Noakhali’s Chatkhil, interacting with the local people.

A press release from the Parliament Secretariat later in the day said the people of that area had expressed the wish to see her as their MP.

It said the locals had ‘assured the Speaker of their mandate in the upcoming national election on behalf of the people of Chatkhil’.

The country’s first woman Speaker, Chaudhury has also sought the local people’s blessings and cooperation, saying she wished to work for the area’s development.

The BNP-backed lawyers’ leader Mahbub Uddin Khokan is the present MP from the Noakhali-2 constituency. The Supreme Court Lawyers Association Secretary is also a Joint Secretary General in the main opposition party.

Former Awami League district unit President Mahmudur Rahman Belayet was the MP from there in 1973. But the Awami League did not win here again after that.

Shirin, whose ancestral home is Chatkhil, entered the Ninth Parliament for the first time as an MP from one of the seats reserved for women.

Later, she became the State Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs. She became the Speaker of Parliament on Apr 30 after Abdul Hamid was elected President on Apr 24.

The 48-year old professional lawyer completed her PhD on human rights and constitutional law – ‘Right to Life’ – from Essex University, on a Commonwealth Scholarship, in the United Kingdom in 2000.

Chaudhury, who has a brilliant academic career, was born on Oct 6, 1966, in Dhaka.

Her father Rafiqullah Chaudhury was the Personal Secretary of Bangladesh's founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Her mother Professor Naiyer Sultana was a Member of the Public Service Commission, and her grandfather a judge in the erstwhile East Pakistan High Court.

She enrolled at the Bar Council in 1992 and with the High Court two years later. In 2008, she was enrolled with the Appellate Division.

However, bdnews24.com Noakhali Correspondent said the Speaker on Sunday visited the construction site of the Dashghorai Mosque, promising assistance for the mosque’s improvement.

She also inaugurated the new building at Rampur Alia Government Primary School. She spoke with the teachers, students and their parents and locals.

Chaudhury also promised help in the improvement of all Hindu temples in the area.