DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's National Assembly Speaker, Tulia Ackson, was elected on Friday the 31st president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a global organization of national parliaments.
According to a statement by the National Assembly, Ackson was elected by delegates to the 147th IPU Assembly held in the Angolan capital of Luanda where she obtained 172 votes out of 303 votes cast.
Ackson took over from Duarte Pacheco, a parliamentarian from Portugal, who concluded his three-year mandate, the statement said.
"I have been overjoyed to be elected president of IPU. My election has also brought much respect to my country Tanzania," Ackson said in her acceptance speech.
She said her task ahead will be to ensure that IPU plays a front seat in nurturing peace and unity across the world.
IPU was founded 130 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Over the past 25 years, the IPU presidency has been held by prominent parliamentarians from Spain, India, Chile, Italy, Namibia, Morocco, Bangladesh, Mexico, Portugal and now the United Republic of Tanzania. ■