top 10 female politicians of the world

8/7/2019 Top 10 Female Politicians of the World

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Top 10 Female Politicians of the World

10. Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania

After Grybauskaite came to power in 2009, European journalists quickly dubbed herLithuanias Iron Lady, owing to her steely way with words and her black belt in karate. Thedaughter of a saleswoman and an electrician, she worked part time in a factory whileearning a Ph.D. in economics. She went on to become Deputy Minister of Finance in 1999,before holding a series of positions within the European Commission. In 2009, with Lithuaniamired deep in recession, Grybauskaite focused her presidential campaign on protectingthose with the lowest incomes and tackling unemployment, which had climbed to nearly16%. Running as an independent, she won with a 68% majority the largest margin ofvictory ever recorded in Lithuanias presidential election history. 9 More Female Politicians ofthe World after the break...
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09. Tarja Halonen, President of Finland

Brought up in a working-class family in downtown Helsinki, Halonen has built a highlysuccessful political career by building ties with trade unions and nongovernmentalorganizations. Serving as President since 2000, she has vehemently defended thePresidents role as commander in chief of the military, and campaigned against Finnishmembership in NATO. Her hobbies belie her powerful position: she is said to enjoy swimming
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and taking care of her two cats. In 2006, TV host and comedian Conan OBrien endorsedHalonens re-election because of her strong resemblance to him.

08. Laura Chinchilla, President of Costa Rica

A former Vice President under Nobel laureate Oscar Arias Snchez, Chinchilla won a 47%majority in the February 2010 election. In a country increasingly concerned about crime, thecenter-leftist played up her security experience: she previously served as both PublicSecurity Minister and Justice Minister in the National Liberation Party. A social conservative,she opposes gay marriage, abortion and the legalization of the morning-after pill. She haspledged to continue the pro-business policies of her predecessor by courting internationalinvestment and expanding free trade.


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07. Johanna Sigurdardottir, Prime Minister of Iceland

After Icelands economy collapsed in October 2008, Sigurdardottir rode a wave of discontentall the way to the premiership. It wasnt exactly surprising: the former flight attendantturned politician had won eight consecutive elections since entering Parliament in 1978,making her the countrys longest-serving parliamentarian and one of its most popular. Inaddition to being Icelands first female Prime Minister, Sigurdardottir, 67, is also the worldsfirst openly gay head of state. In June 2010, when Iceland legalized gay marriage,


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Sigurdardottir tied the knot with her long-term partner, with whom she had entered a civilunion seven years earlier.

06. Sheik Hasina Wajed, Prime Minister of Bangladesh

Hasina, the 62-year-old leader of the left-of-center Awami League, has a history of surviving.During a 1975 coup dtat, assassins killed 17 members of her family including her son,three brothers, mother and father, former Prime Minister Sheik Mujibur Rahman. Hasina,then 28, happened to be abroad at the time. She later survived a grenade attack that killedmore than 20 people, dodging the bullets that sprayed her car as she fled. Hasina was firstelected Prime Minister in 1996. But in 2001, Transparency International named Bangladeshas the most corrupt country in the world, and Hasina was ousted in a landslide. That wasnt


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the end of her, though. In January 2009, the Awami League won 230 of 299 parliamentaryseats, and the consummate survivor found herself Prime Minister again.

05. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia

Educated at the University of Wisconsin and at Harvard, Africas first female Presidentserved as Liberias Minister of Finance in the late 1970s. But when Samuel Doe seized powerin a military coup in 1980 and executed the President and several Cabinet members,Johnson Sirleaf fled to Kenya, where she became a director at Citibank. She returned tocontest the 1996 presidential election and lost to Charles Taylor. In 2005, she ran again and


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won, promising to bring motherly sensitivity and emotion to the presidency a tall order ina country still reeling from years of civil war.

04. Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia

After she helped orchestrate a Labor Party coup that ousted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd onJune 24, 2010, Gillard, 48, became Australias first female PM. Tasked with rebuildingdwindling support for her party, she called snap elections just three weeks into office, hopingto benefit from her bounce in public opinion. But the Aug. 21 election proved inconclusive:neither Gillards center-left government nor the Liberal-National coalition led by Tony Abbottwere able to secure an outright majority. The stalemate finally broke on Sep. 7. After more


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than two weeks of protracted negotiation with a handful of independent candidates, Gillardsecured a 76-74 majority in parliament to form a minority government.

03. Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil

I would like parentswho have daughters to look straight in their eyes and tell them: Yes, a womancan, Dilma Rousseff said following her victory in Brazils runoff election. When she takesthe reins of the worlds fourth largest democracy on Jan.1, Rousseff will become the South American countrys first female president. Her win, avictory for would-be women leaders everywhere, was also a nod to out going President LuizIncio Lula da Silva, who handpicked her for the job. As Lulas former chief of staff, Rousseffpromised to carry on the outgoing and overwhelmingly popular leaders work.I offer special thanks to President Lula, she said in her election night speech. I will knowhow to honor his legacy. I will know how to consolidate and go forward with his work.


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02. Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner, President of Argentina

Elected President in November 2007

(thereby succeeding her husband Nstor), Fernndez has proven she is her own woman.

Dismissively referred to as Cristina by some members of Argentinas macho political elite,

Fernndez has survived a standoff with the countrys powerful farming lobby, a fallout with

the U.S. over a suitcase allegedly containing illegal campaign contributions and a series of

high-profile economic-policy spats that culminated in the ousting of the governor of

Argentinas Central Bank earlier this year. With her striking appearance and polarizing

rhetoric, she inevitably draws comparisons with former First Lady Eva Pern.

01. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany


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The most influential female politician in the world, Merkel earned a doctorate in physics inEast Germany before turning her eye to politics. She won a seat in the Bundestag during thefirst post-reunification general election, in December 1990, and Chancellor Helmut Kohlappointed her as a Cabinet minister just one year later. Childless and twice married, thechairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union often comes off as reserved and self-effacing.

But as she told TIME in a 2010 interview, she has plenty of confidence: You could certainlysay that Ive never underestimated myself. Theres nothing wrong with being ambitious.

top 10 female politicians of the world

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