The Information Commission Bangladesh has a woman at the helm for the first time, nearly two decades after it began work.
The government appointed Prof Nahreen Islam Khan of the Department of Geography and Environment at Jahangirnagar University to the post on Saturday.
Six people have served as chief information commissioner and eight as commissioner before her.
Four women have held the commissioner post, but none had led the commission until now.
Nahreen is best known as a media personality seen as close to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in newspapers and on television.
She has also taken part in meetings between the prime minister and business representatives as a media personality, and has been seen explaining the government’s position in the media at different times.
She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s in geography and environment at Jahangirnagar University, then earned a PhD from Philipps University of Marburg in Germany.
She later gained another Master’s degree in environmental policy and environmental conflict management from the University of Freiburg in Germany, along with a diploma in gender studies from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) in Austria.
After the political changeover, the then interim government removed Abdul Malek, the chief information commissioner appointed under the Awami League, in September 2024.
The post had been vacant since.
Two information commissioners were also appointed on the same day, as the rules require, along with Nahreen.
They are SAM Mahfuzur Rahman, a former editor of United News of Bangladesh (UNB), and Khan Md Abul Hossain, an assistant editor of Dainik Dinkal.
Mahfuzur was moved from his post as the prime minister’s speechwriter to take up the role.