The National Council of Women (NCW) board has elected former ambassador Mervat El-Tallawy Sunday as the chairwoman of the council in its first meeting after it was recomposed by the ruling military council in February.

The members of the board have also elected lawyer and feminist Nihad Abu El-Komsan as the general secretary of the council, MP Margret Azar as the  aide to the general secretary and TV host and writer Doria Sharaf El-Din as the spokesperson of the council.

Former ambassador Mervat El-Tallawy has served as minister for insurance and social affairs of Egypt from 1997 to 1999.

After leaving the ministerial post she was appointed from 2000 to 2007 as the undersecretary general of the United Nations and executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia “ESCWA”.

El-Tallaway was among the founding members of the Egyptian Social Democratic party after the January 25 revolution.

Prime Minister Kamal Al Ganzoury has attended the first meeting of the NCW.

The decision by the ruling military council earlier in February to reshuffle the NCW has created controversy after it met with opposition from the Muslim brotherhood and its political arm Freedom and Justice Party who accused the council of serving as a tool in the hands of the former regime of ousted president Mubarak.

“The parties were not consulted in reshuffling this council which the former regime used to destroy the family values in the country,” FJP said in a statement it released in February.

The FJP leading member Ahmed Abu Baraka revealed last week also that his party is proposing the formation of a national council for the family instead of a council for women.

The National council of Women was founded by a presidential decree in 2000 and headed by former first lady Suzanne Mubarak until Mubarak was deposed in 2011.