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WOMAN LEADERS FROM ASIA



A rising sisterhood leading Asia 
   
Record numbers of women are taking power     
Indonesian presidential hopeful Megawati Sukarnoputri plays with refugee
children from East Timor during a visit to a refugee camp on Sept. 9.
   
 SOURCE:MSNBC
By Ron Gluckman
MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR 
 
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept. 25 ?  Should Megawati Sukarnoputri assume the
presidency of Indonesia in November, as many expect following her victory in
the first free elections in decades this June, she will join an elite group
of women leaders around the world. Surprisingly, a large number of those
female leaders, past and present, have taken power in Asia, a region where
women often play second-fiddle in male-dominated societies. 
 

      
   
    
     

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 America still hasn?t offered its people the choice of a female candidate
for president. 

         SRI LANKA PRODUCED the world?s first democratically ? elected
leader in 1960, when the post was filled by Sirimavo Bandaranaike, mother of
current Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Bandaranaike assumed
power after the assassination of her husband. She has served as prime
minister three separate times.
       In contrast, western societies didn?t produce their first female head
of state until 1979, when Margaret Thatcher became prime minister of Great
Britain. 
       That year, Simone Weil of France became the first president of the
European Union. The balance of power shifted greatly in the 1980s, when
women took power in Iceland, Norway and Yugoslavia, and, in the 1990s, in
Turkey, Ireland, Nicaragua, Panama and Poland.   
 President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kumarantunga.
          Yet, three quarters of a century after winning the right to vote,
women in America still haven?t had the choice of a single female candidate
for president from any of the major parties.
       Meanwhile, Asia continues to turn to numerous female rulers. Indira
Gandhi was twice prime minister of India, and Benazir Bhutto has twice
served the same role in Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head a Muslim
state. When Sheik Hasina Wazed took over as prime minister of Bangladesh,
she succeeded another woman, Khaleda Zia.
       True, most female leaders in Asia assume power by way of tragedy and
bloodshed, after fathers or husbands are assassinated. That?s been the case
with President Kumaratunga, Bandaranaike, Bhutto, Corazon Aquino in the
Philippines, and many others.   
 Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
          But Asia isn?t alone in selecting survivors to replace leaders
whose term has been cut short. In Israel, Golda Meir was prime minister in
the 1950s when few women held high offices anywhere. The first female head
of state in the Americas was Juan Peron?s widow, Isabel, in Argentina. A
half century before any major American city could claim a female mayor,
several states had women governors; all succeeded husbands who died in office.
       Here?s a look at some of Asia?s leading ladies:
 Sirimavo Bandaranaike, former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka: She succeeded
her husband as Premier in 1960 after he was assassinated by a Buddhist monk.
But she rose to the role. Ruthless and determined, she dominated the
island?s politics for nearly three decades.
 Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan: Nine years after a
military regime executed her father, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
this graduate of Harvard and Oxford was elected to his former post. A
decidedly liberal leader in a Muslim republic, she restored democracy to
Pakistan in 1988, but her rule was tainted by corruption, and she was twice
ousted by presidential decree.
   
 Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino.
          Corazon Aquino, Former President of the Philippines: Two and one
half years after her husband?s assassination on August 21, 1983, the widow
of exiled Senator Aquino spearheaded the People?s Power movement that
toppled Marcos from power. She was burdened with the unflattering tag of
?First Housewife? throughout her term.
 Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India: Chosen by Congress party
bosses in 1966 as a prime minister they thought they could control, the
daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru built a mass following, split the party and
established herself as supreme leader. She was assassinated in 1984 by
bodyguards.
 Sonia Gandhi, Congress party leader: Italian-born wife of Rajiv Gandhi, who
succeeded his mother as Prime Minister and was himself assassinated in 1991,
she stayed out of politics until recently, when party leaders turned to yet
another Gandi to try and produce a miracle at the polls.
 Chandrika Kumaratunga, President of Sri Lanka: She shrugged off the
political assassinations of both her father and husband, then battled her
brother for control of the family party, which she took to victory in 1994.
 Aung San Suu Kyi, opposition leader in Burma: The only child of
independence hero Bogyoke Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947, she lived
abroad but returned to Burma in 1988. Suu Kyi led her the opposition party
to a landslide victory in elections in 1990, but the military regime refused
to relinquish power. Instead, they have kept the winner of the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize in house arrest.
 Sheik Hasina Wazed, Prime Minister of Bangladesh: Her father President
Sheik Mujibur Rahman, her mother and three brothers were murdered during a
1975 military coup. Abroad at the time, Sheik Hasina Wazed returned home in
1981 to take over her father?s party and won a 1996 election.
 Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh: Widow of assassinated
President Ziaur Rahman, she took over her husband?s party in 1982 and won
office in 1991. She has been in political battles with arch-rival Hasina
Wazed ever since.
 Indonesia?s Megawati Sukarnoputri, presidential candidate: Daughter of
Sukarno, Indonesia?s first President, she saw her party outpoll all others
in the June election, the country?s first free elections since her father
was ousted in a 1965 coup. She is likely to head a new government as
president by the end of the year.