Awami League candidate for Rangpur-6 (Pirganj) constituency Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has been elected unofficially with a huge margin in the 12th parliamentary elections held on Sunday. Returning Officer and Rangpur District Commissioner Mobaswer Hasan announced the result in his office on Sunday (January 7) night. Foreign Minister Momen wins Sylhet-1 constituency Dr Shirin, also the Speaker of the parliament, got 1,08,635 votes with "Boat" symbol while her nearest rival Md Sirajul Islam bagged 36,832 votes with "Truck" symbol. Meanwhile, Jatiya Party's Nur Alam Miah secured 9,016 votes. Jatiya Party retains Rangpur-3 seat The numbers of voters in the constituency are 3,29,754, the EC sources said. Of them, 1,58,424 voters cast their vote in the election. Nation witnessed a festive election: Home Minister Earlier, polling started at 8 am and ended at 4 pm without any break.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has called upon the UK parliamentarians to raise their voices at Westminster in favour of financing climate vulnerable nations such as Bangladesh, and advocate among G20 parliaments to arrest emissions and global warming. Shirin was delivering her speech as chief guest at the interactive dialogue "Bangladesh Rising" with British parliamentarians organised by the Bangladesh High Commission in London Wednesday. The speaker emphasised strengthening institutional collaboration between Bangladesh and the British parliamentarians – especially on strengthening parliamentary democracy and good governance, delivering on Agenda 2030, climate change, women empowerment and the protracted Rohingya crisis. She also highlighted that Bangladesh has been sheltering and protecting the 1.1 million Rohingyas fleeing from Myanmar for five years now, and the only solution to the Rohingya crisis lies in the safe and sustainable return of the persecuted Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar. Shirin urged the British parliamentarians to play a leading role globally in resolving the crisis. The speaker also highlighted the contributions of the four British-Bangladeshi parliamentarians and one House of Lords member of Bangladeshi origin in strengthening Bangladesh-UK friendship.   She invited all the MPs and the members of the House of Lords to visit Bangladesh during the historic 50 years of Bangladesh-UK diplomatic relations. The dialogue, chaired and moderated by Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem, was attended by prominent British parliamentarians, including Lord Sheikh of Cornhill, vice-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh, Lord Evans of Watford, member of the House of Lords Committee on SME, Baroness Thornton, shadow spokesperson (equalities and women's issues), Baroness Manzila Pola Uddin, the first British-Bangladeshi peer at the House of Lords, Stephen Twigg, secretary general of the CPA, and Sam Tarry MP, former shadow minister for transport. Read: Speaker for intensified inter-parliamentary communication to share experiences

Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and her British counterpart Sir Lindsay Hoyle have agreed to strengthen institutional collaboration between Bangladesh and the British parliaments specially on climate change, women empowerment, justice for the Rohingyas, and role of parliament across the Commonwealth. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the British Parliament since 2019, congratulated Bangladesh and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the climate leadership at the COP26 and being among the strongest voices to combat global warming and climate change. They held a bilateral meeting at the Westminster ‘Speaker’s House’ on Monday morning. Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem was present during the meeting. While paying profound tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Dr Chaudhury informed the British Speaker that it was Bangabandhu’s value-based friendship with the-then British politicians that would continue to remain a fundamental tenet and cornerstone of the robust and ever expanding Bangladesh-UK diplomatic relations of 2022 and beyond. She proposed to form a ‘Bangladesh-UK Parliamentary Friendship Group’, marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries to work together for promoting shared values of democracy, peace, and progress inclusive societies, according to the Bangladesh High Commission in London. Read: UN resident coordinator Gwyn Lewis meets Speaker Dr Shirin The British Speaker expressed gratitude to Bangladesh for sheltering and protecting 1.1 million Rohingyas fleeing from Myanmar. The Bangladesh Speaker called on the British Parliament to play a leading role in resolving the Rohingya crisis towards a sustained return. Sir Hoyle recalled Bangladesh Speaker’s successful tenure as the Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and praised her skilful leadership to promote women empowerment across the CPA. The British Speaker praised the four British-Bangladeshi parliamentarians for their contribution to British society and acknowledged the entrepreneurship of the Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK. Both the Speakers emphasized the increased role of parliamentarians in different international forums, including the Commonwealth. Sir Hoyle proposed to host an event at the British Parliament in honour of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on the occasion of 50 years of Bangladesh-UK friendship. Dr Chaudhury invited Speaker Hoyle to visit Bangladesh at the earliest opportunity, especially during the historic 50 years of Bangladesh-UK diplomatic relations.

Emphasising the need for drawing a line between free speech and disinformation, Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has said that innovative solutions are needed to spread truth in the society. "Incorrect information can led people and the society in the wrong way. On the other hand, right and objective information can play a role in creating constructive opinion," Shirin said, while addressing the 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Vienna on Tuesday night. However, she advocated the need for stricter laws if the existing ones are inadequate to curb the menace of fake news. "In addition to ensuring fundamental freedom of speech and expression, more effective and innovative solutions need to be explored to spread truth. If the desired results are not achieved through the existing laws, more powerful laws need to be enacted," the Speaker added. Read: Norwegian envoy meets Speaker Shirin Sharmin Urging people to shun conventional mentality, she said: "It is needed to change the conventional ideas, mentality and thinking. In addition to spreading the need for education among the older generation, the new generation should be abreast with the latest developments. "Strong family structures as well as educational institutions are essential for proper education and the media can play an important role in this regard." Awami League MPs Bodruddoza Md Farhad Hossain (Brahmanbaria-1), Rumana Ali (Women Seat-14) and Gloria Jharna Sarker (Women Seat-30) were also present at the conference on 'Countering Misinformation and Hate Speech Requires Stronger Regulations'. Dr Shirin left Dhaka for Vienna, the capital of Austria, to attend the 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament on September 5. Also read: Dr Shirin leaves for Vienna to join Speakers’ Conference She will also join the 13th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament (13SWSP) and the First Global Parliamentary Meeting on Counter-Terrorism. The 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, the world's largest gathering of the highest level of parliamentary representation, is being jointly organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Austrian Parliament on September 7 and 8. This conference will be followed by the 13SWSP and the Parliamentary Meeting on Counter-Terrorism on September 9. Over 110 Parliament Speakers from around the world arrived in Vienna for the first in-person large-scale inter-parliamentary meeting since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dhaka, Sep 28 (UNB)-Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on Monday said, "Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is not only the leader of Bangladesh but a world leader. Her name ranks at the top among the powerful leaders of the world. Now the world community praises  Sheikh Hasina for her strategic leadership. We see a rare combination of many qualities in her. ”

Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on Monday urged the upazila administration, particularly Upazila women vice chairmen and Upazila women affairs officers, to be more sincere alongside police to prevent violence against women and children.