Cameroon Deputy Speaker Lifaka elected new CPA chair

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) has elected Cameroon’s Deputy Speaker Emilia Monjowa Lifaka as its new chairperson for the next three years. Delegates from 44 Commonwealth countries elected her at the General Assembly of the 63rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) in Dhaka on Tuesday. She defeated her nearest rival Cook Island lawmaker Nikki Rattel by 107-70 votes. Another candidate, Montserrat lawmaker Shirly M Osborne, bagged only 15 votes. CPA Secretary General Akbar Khan announced the results around 1:45pm on Tuesday at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka. Lifaka, previously the vice-president of the CPA executive committee, has replaced Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury as the CPA chairperson. Lifaka entered the National Assembly of Cameroon in 2002 following a 21-year career as a civil servant. She has been the deputy speaker of her country’s parliament since 2009.