List of the first women holders of political offices in Asia

Afghanistan

Bahrain

• Member of the Council of Representatives – Lateefa Al Gaood – 2006 (first female MP in the Gulf region)

Bangladesh

• Prime Minister – Khaleda Zia – 1991–1996, 2001–2006
• Minister of Agriculture – Matia Chowdhury – 2009–2013, 2014–present
• Minister of Home Affairs – Sahara Khatun – 2009–2013
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Dipu Moni – 2009–2013
• Speaker of the Parliament^[1] – Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury – 2013– present
• Minister of State for Public Administration – Ismat Ara Sadek – 2014–present
• Minister of State of Women and Children Affairs – Meher Afroz Chumki – 2014–present

Bhutan

• Minister of Works and Human Settlement – Aum Dorji Choden – 2013

Cambodia

• Member of Parliament - Tong Siv Eng - 1958
• Secretary of State - Tong Siv Eng - 1959
• Minister of Social Action - Tong Siv Eng - 1961

China

East Timor

• Foreign minister (acting) – Adalgisa Magno Guterres – 2007

Hong Kong

British Hong Kong

• Chief Secretary – Anson Chan – 1993

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

• President of the Legislative Council – Rita Fan – 1997
• Chief Secretary – Anson Chan – 1997
• Chief Executive – Carrie Lam – 2017

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

• Minister of Municipalities – Naziha al-Dulaimi – 1959 (also first female government minister in the Arab world)

Israel

• Minister of Labor – Golda Meir – 1949
• Minister of Foreign Affairs – Golda Meir – 1955
• Prime Minister – Golda Meir – 1969
• Minister of Health – Shoshana Arbeli-Almozlino – 1986
• State Comptroller – Miriam Ben Porat – 1988
• State Attorney – Dorit Beinisch – 1989
• Minister of Education – Shulamit Aloni – 1992
• Minister of Environment – Ora Namir – 1992
• Minister of Communications – Shulamit Aloni – 1993
• Minister of Science and Culture – Shulamit Aloni – 1993
• Minister of Immigrant Absorption – Yuli Tamir – 1999
• Minister of Regional Cooperation – Tzipi Livni – 2001
• Minister of Commerce and Industry – Dalia Itzik – 2001
• Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development – Tzipi Livni – 2003
• Minister of Housing and Construction – Tzipi Livni – 2003
• Minister of Justice – Tzipi Livni – 2004
• Speaker of the Knesset – Dalia Itzik – 2006
• President (acting) – Dalia Itzik – 2007 ^[7]

Japan

• Queen of Yamatai – Himiko – 188 AD*
• Regent – Jingū of Japan – 209 AD*
• Empress – Empress Suiko – 592 AD
• First Grand Priestess of Ise Shrine – Yamatohime-no-mikoto – ca. 300 AD*
• Member of Parliament – Shidzue Katō – 1946
• Minister of Health and Welfare – Masa Nakayama – 1960
• Vice Chair of Political Party (Japan Socialist Party, 社会党) – Takako Doi – 1966
• Chair of Political Party (Japan Socialist Party, 社会党) – Takako Doi – 1986
• Mayor (Ashiya city) – Harue Kitamura – 1991
• President of House of Representatives of Japan – Takako Doi – 1993
• Governor of Osaka Prefecture – Fusae Ota – 2000
• Foreign minister – Makiko Tanaka – 2001
• Minister of the Environment – Yoriko Kawaguchi – 2001
• Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture – Yoshiko Shiotani – 2001
• Governor of Chiba Prefecture – Akiko Domoto – 2001
• Governor of Hokkaidō Prefecture – Harumi Takahashi – 2003
• Speaker of House of Councillors – Chikage Ogi – 2004
• Governor of Shiga Prefecture – Yukiko Kada – 2006
• Minister of Defense – Yuriko Koike – 2007
• Minister of Justice – Keiko Chiba – 2009
• Governor of Yamagata Prefecture – Mieko Yoshimura – 2009
• Mayor (Ōtsu city) – Naomi Koshi – 2012
• Governor of Tokyo Prefecture – Yuriko Koike – 2016

Jordan

• Minister of Social Development – Ina'am Al-Mufti – 1980

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Kuwait

• Minister – Massouma al-Mubarak – 2005.^[8][9]
• Member of the National Assembly – Aseel al-Awadhi, Rola Dashti, Massouma al-Mubarak and Salwa al-Jassar – 2009.^[10][11]

Lebanon

• Minister of Finance – Raya Haffar al-Hassan – 2009

Macau

Malaysia

• Councillor of the Federal Legislative Council (elected) – Che Halimahton Abdul Majid – 1955
• Member of Parliament – Fatimah Hashim, Khadijah Sidek, Zainon Munshi Sulaiman – 1959
• Senator – Aishah Ghani – 1962
• Minister of Social Welfare – Fatimah Hashim – 1969 (first female Minister in Cabinet of Malaysia) ^[12]
• Minister of General Welfare – Aishah Ghani – 1973 ^[13]
• Minister of Public Enterprises – Rafidah Aziz – 1980
• Minister of Commerce and Industry – Rafidah Aziz – 1987
• Minister of International Trade and Industry – Rafidah Aziz – 1990 ^[14]
• Minister of National Unity and Social Development – Napsiah Omar – 1990 ^[15]
• Minister in the Prime Minister's Department – Siti Zaharah Sulaiman – 1999
• Minister of Women and Family Development – Shahrizat Abdul Jalil – 2001
• Minister of Women, Family and Community Development – Shahrizat Abdul Jalil – 2001
• Minister of Youth and Sports – Azalina Othman Said – 2004
• Minister of Tourism – Azalina Othman Said – 2008
• Minister of Women, Family and Community Development – Ng Yen Yen – 2008 (first female Chinese Minister in Cabinet of Malaysia) ^[16]
• Leader of the Opposition in the Malaysian Parliament – Wan Azizah Wan Ismail – 2008
• Deputy President of the Dewan Negara – Armani Mahiruddin – 2009
• President of the Municipal Council of Penang Island – Patahiyah Ismail – 2010 (first woman municipal council president in Malaysia)
• Mayor of Petaling Jaya – Alinah Ahmad – 2013 (first woman mayor in Malaysia)
• Speaker of Selangor State Legislative Assembly – Hannah Yeoh – 2013 (first female Speaker in state legislature) ^[17]
• Leader of the Opposition in the Penang State Legislative Assembly – Jahara Hamid – 2013
• Mayor of Penang Island – Patahiyah Ismail – 2015
• Leader of the Opposition in the Johor State Legislative Assembly – Gan Peck Cheng – 2015
• President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai – Maimunah Mohd Sharif – 2016
• Speaker of Perak State Legislative Assembly – S. Thangeswary – 2016
• Deputy Prime Minister – Wan Azizah Wan Ismail – 2018
• Minister of Housing and Local Government – Zuraida Kamaruddin – 2018
• Minister of Rural and Regional Development – Rina Harun – 2018
• Minister of Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment – Yeo Bee Yin – 2018
• Minister of Primary Industries – Teresa Kok – 2018

Maldives

• Foreign minister (acting) – Mariyam Shakeela – 2013

Mongolia

Myanmar

Nepal

North Korea

• Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea members – Ho Jong-suk and Pak Chong-ae – 1946^[18]
• Minister of Culture – Ho Jong-suk – 1948^[19][20]
• Vice Premier – Kim Pok-sin – 1982^[21][20]

Oman

• Government Minister – Rawya Saud Al Busaidi – 2004
• Minister of Higher Education – Rawya Saud Al Busaidi – 2004

Pakistan

Palestine

• Minister of Higher Education and Research – Hanan Ashrawi – 1996
• Minister of Social Affairs – Intissar al-Wazir – 1995
• General Delegate of Palestine to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg – Leila Shahid – 2006
• Mayor of Ramallah – Janet Mikhail – 2005

Philippines

Singapore

• Minister in Prime Minister's Office - Lim Hwee Hua - 2004
• Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth - Grace Fu - 2015
• President - Halimah Yacob - 2017

South Korea

• Acting Prime Minister – Chang Sang – 2002
• Prime Minister – Han Myung-Sook – 2006
• President – Park Geun-hye – 2013

Sri Lanka

Syria

• Minister of Culture – Najah al-Attar – 1976
• Vice President – Najah al-Attar – 2006

Taiwan

• Justice on the Supreme Court of the Republic of China – Chang Chin-lan – 1967
• Mayor of Chiayi City, first elected female city mayor – Hsu Shih-Hsien – 1967
• Minister of Finance, first appointed female minister – Shirley Kuo – 1988
• Vice President – Annette Lu – 2000
• Vice Premier – Yeh Chu-lan – 2004
• Minister of Transportation and Communications – Yeh Chu-lan – 2004
• President of National Assembly of the Republic of China – Yeh Chu-lan – 2005
• Secretary-General of the Office of the President – Yeh Chu-lan – 2005
• Mayor of Kaohsiung, first elected female mayor of a special municipality – Kiku Chen – 2006
• Chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party, first elected female leader of a major party - Tsai Ing-Wen - 2008
• Vice President of the Legislative Yuan (Deputy Speaker of Parliament) – Hung Hsiu-chu – 2012
• President - Tsai Ing-Wen - 2016

Tannu Tuva

• Chairperson of the Presidium of the Little Hural (head of state) – Khertek Anchimaa-Toka – 1940

Thailand

• Member of Parliament – Orapin Chaiyakan – 1949^[31][32]
• Minister of Transport – Lursakdi Sampatisiri – 1976 (the first female Minister)^[33]
• Ministry of University Affairs (now defunct) – Wimonsiri Chamnanwet – 1976 (the first female Minister)^[33]
• Minister for Office of the Prime Minister – Supatra Masdit – 1986^[33]
• Minister of Public Health – Sudarat Keyuraphan – 2001^[33]
• Minister of Culture – Uraiwan Thienthong – 2002^[33]
• Minister of Labour – Uraiwan Thienthong – 2003^[33]
• Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives – Lalita Lerksamran – 2005
• Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives – Sudarat Keyuraphan – 2005^[33]
• Minister of Energy – Poonpirom Liptapanlop – 2008^[33]
• Minister of Natural Resources and Environment – Anongwan Thepsuthin – 2008^[33]
• Vice President of Senate – Tassana Boontong – 2008^[34]
• Minister of Commerce – Pornthiva Nakasai – 2008^[33]
• Minister of Information and Communication Technology – Ranongrak Suwanchawee – 2008^[33]
• Minister of Science and Technology – Kalaya Sophonpanich – 2008^[33]
• Prime Minister – Yingluck Shinawatra – 2011^[35][36]
• Minister of Defence – Yingluck Shinawatra – 2013
• Minister of Social Development and Human Security – Paweena Hongsakul – 2013
• Minister of Tourism and Sports – Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul – 2014
• Minister of Industry – Atchaka Sibunruang – 2015

Turkmenistan

Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (part of the Soviet Union):

• General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR – Anna Mukhamedova – 1937

Uzbekistan

Vietnam

• Minister of Social Affairs, Health and the Disabled - Dương Quỳnh Hoa - 1975 (in North Vietnam 1969)
• Vice President - Nguyễn Thị Định - 1987

Yemen

• Ministry of State for Human Rights – Wahiba Fara’a – 2001

See also

• List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government

References