Sheikh Hasina ranked 46th in Forbes’ most powerful women list
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been ranked 46th in the Forbes list of the 2023 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.
She was ranked 42nd in the previous year’s list of Forbes. Sheikh Hasina, 76, has also been ranked 9th in the special category of Politics and Policy among 18.
The US-based magazine published a brief profile on the Bangladesh prime minister highlighting her electoral successes and allegation of being authoritarian and cracking down on free speech.
Forbes said Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the longest serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh, is currently serving her fourth term. She is also the world's longest-serving female head of government, Forbes said in its website.
She won the fourth term, which is also her third consecutive term, after her party, Bangladesh Awami League, won 288 of the 300 parliamentary seats.
Hasina is running for a 5th term in January 2024 despite rising calls from the opposition party for her to resign. She has been accused of authoritarianism and cracking down on free speech, Forbes profile said.
Hasina also stands accused of voter suppression. She denies the charges, but in September, the US announced visa restrictions for any Bangladeshi individual responsible for undermining elections, it added.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen ranked a top in the list. Forbes said Ursula von der Leyen was appointed president of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, in July 2019.
She is the first woman to serve in the role, which is responsible for legislation affecting more than 450 million Europeans.
From 2005 until 2019, von der Leyen served in Angela Merkel's cabinet--the longest tenure of any cabinet member. For the last six years of her time in the cabinet, she was Germany's defense minister.
She spearheaded a 750 billion euro Covid relief bill in 2020 and, in 2022, became one of the West's staunchest supporters of Ukraine amid Russia's unprovoked invasion, Forbes said.