Women in power

Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar brings to seven the number of woman prime ministers currently holding power. The others are in Bangladesh, Germany, Iceland and in the self-governing territories of The Netherlands Antilles, and the ?land Islands. From all reports, this is the largest number of women leaders to be in power at any time in history.

The previous highest-ever number of simultaneous female world leaders was 13. It occured three times in all, first in July 2002 when woman ruled in Latvia, Finland, New Zealand, Ireland, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, Indonesia, Panama, Bangladesh, Senegal, S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe, and South Korea.. In early April of 2006 there were women heading governments in Ireland, New Zealand, Lativa, Finland, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Germany, Liberia, South Korea, Chile, Jamaica, and Sao Tom? and Pr?ncipe. In January-March 2007 there were women in charge in Ireland, New Zealand, Lativa, Finland, Philippines, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Germany, Liberia, Chile, Jamaica, Switzerland, and South Korea.

There have always been female rulers. Egyptian Queens are believed to have governed from around 3000 BCE, and the first to be named by the sources without any doubt is Ku-baba, who ruled the Mesopotamian City-State of Ur round 2500 BCE.

However, it was not until during and just after the World War I that the first few women became members of the revolutionary governments in Ukraine, Russia, Hungary and Ireland. Nina Bang, Danish Minister of Education 1924-26, was the first woman to be minister in a democratically elected parliamentary government.

Nevertheless, development was slow and it was not until the end of the 20th century that female ministers stopped being unusual, though a number of countries don't have women in their governments at the moment.

In 1960 Sirivamo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka became the world's first female elected Premier Minister and in 1974 Isabel Per?n of Argentina became the first woman president – one woman had been Acting Head of Government and two women Acting Heads of State before that. In 2009 Monaco became the last country in the world to have it's first female member of government. In 1999 Sweden became the first country to have more female ministers than male

– 11 women and nine men and in 2007 the Finish government had 60 percent women.

The current women leaders are:

– Ireland - President Mary McAleese, elected 1997

– Finland - President Tarja Halonen, elected 2000

– Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel, elected 2005

– Liberia - President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, elected 2006

– India - President Pratibha Patil, elected 2007

– Argentina - President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, elected 2008

– Bangladesh - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, elected 2008

– Iceland - Prime Minister J?hanna Sigurdard?ttir, appointed 2009, elected 2009

– Lithuania - President Dalia Grybauskaite, elected 2009

– Croatia - Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, appointed 2009

– Switzerland - President Doris Leuthard, appointed 2010

– Kyrgyzstan - Interim President Rosa Otunbayeva, coup 2010

– Costa Rica - President Laura Chinchilla, elected 2010

Persad-Bissessar, has been involved in party politics since 1985 when she joined the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) which had just emerged as a political entity. Persad-Bissesar once said in an interview that she was attracted by the “great spirit in that party”.

She lost the first general election she ever contested in 1991 when, as the candidate for the NAR in Siparia, she was defeated by UNC candidate Shaheed Hosein. Persad-Bissessar joined the UNC in 1994 and was soon appointed an opposition senator.

Four years later, in the snap elections of 1995, Persad-Bissessar won the seat for the UNC by an overwhelming majority. She has held the Siparia seat ever since.

On her way to taking the most powerful political position in this country, Persad-Bissessar served as Attorney General in 1995 and again in 2001.

In 2000, she was sworn in as the Minister of Education.