Bishop loses global union president race

Speaker Bronwyn Bishop has failed in her bid for the presidency of a global parliamentary union.

Bangladesh MP and former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience Saber Chowdhury has instead been elected to head the 125-year-old Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in a vote in Geneva.

The union is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of democracy. The national parliaments of 163 countries are members and the IPU has a permanent observer status at the United Nations.

Mrs Bishop, who submitted her candidature for the three-year role in July, was also up against candidates from Indonesia and the Maldives.

In her letter to the IPU she said she was "humbled to have the strong support" of Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Australian government for her nomination.

The IPU has only had one female president.

It's thought recent domestic scandals including Mrs Bishop's role in approving a plan to segregate women wearing burqas or niqabs visiting Parliament House in Canberra may have cruelled her chances against the three candidates from Muslim nations.

Mr Chowdhury has previously been president of IPU's Committee on Peace and International Security.

After the results were announced, Mr Chowdhury said politics and public service were about helping people solve their problems and live their dreams.

"My belief is to always improve upon what you find and leave a better, more peaceful world," he said.

He pledged to be an active president who led the organisation "from the front".