Rise
in Power
WOMEN LEADING THEIR NATIONS IN ASIA
Despite a pervasiveness of
gender inequality in pockets of Asia,
the region has had and continues
to have its sizeable share of female
national leaders. Granted, not all left
a positive legacy. Nonetheless, from
Thailand to Pakistan to South Korea,
we find that in recent history there
has always been a time and place for
women to lead their nations.
Benazir Bhutto is Pakistan’s
“Iron Lady” and the world’s first
democratically-elected female leader
of a Muslim nation. The eldest
daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a
former president and prime minister,
she served two non-consecutive terms
as the Prime Minister of Pakistan,
though she did not complete it due to
corruption charges. On 27 December
2007 – just two weeks before the
2008 general elections which she
had intended to run for – Bhutto was
assassinated in a bombing attack.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo stepped
up to the role of president in
response to the deposition of her
predecessor, Joseph Estrada. Her
father was Diosdado Macapagal, a
former president. Though adept at
managing the country’s economy – the
Philippines escaped the 2008 global
financial crisis largely unscathed –
Arroyo was perceived as power-hungry
and accused of rigging the 2004
Presidential elections, which she won
by a one million vote margin.First brought into the limelight as the
sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, a business
tycoon turned politician who was
overthrown in a military coup, Yingluck
Shinawatra’s reputation preceded
her entrance into politics. She was
Thailand’s first female prime minister
and its youngest in over 60 years. While
initial polls showed Yingluck to be more
popular than Thaksin, her management
of the 2011 Thailand floods stirred
discontent and eventually led to a
period of political instability.Benazir Bhutto
PRime ministeR oF Pakistan
office term: 1988–1990, 1993–1996Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo
PResiDent oF the PhiliPPines
office term: 2001–2010Yingluck
Shinawatra
PRime ministeR oF thailanD
office term: 2011–2014PHOTO © JEON HAN/KOREA.NET, WALLY MCNAMEE/CORBIS, ASIA SOCIETY
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