The women in Sri Lanka are among the first in Asia to enjoy the right to vote. They have been enjoying suffrage since 1931, and they comprise 56 percent of the country’s registered voters as of now. With an all-important national election round the corner, all political parties and candidates have gone all-out to tap in to this vote bank.
All key political parties have women’s wings, and women empowerment has always been a key chapter in election manifestoes. The notion that “women win elections”, or in other words, the outcome of elections will be decided by women, has been gaining ground for some time now, and was heard even on political stages.
Yet, women remain heavily underrepresented in the decision-making tiers of the country. The 2019 Presidential Election featured a record 35 candidates, but only one among them was female. Men have been dominating the country’s highest law-making body with female representation plateaued at five percent for decades now. After the unseating of National List Member of Parliament (MP) Diana Gamage in May 2024, the current Parliament elected in 2020 has only 11 women MPs, and notably, there is no Tamil or Muslim female MP among them.
Dr. Sujatha Gamage, Senior Research Fellow at LIRNEasia
PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi
This means the female representation is as low as 4.9 percent in our 225-member national legislature, lagging far behind the global average of 27 percent and the South Asian average of 15.7 percent of female representation in national Parliaments as per the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) data. In fact, Sri Lanka falls within the lowest-ranking 10 countries in the world (out of 183 countries) going by the same statistics.
For a country where the number of female undergraduates outnumber that of males, and where the females have made great strides in various professions and careers to become true “change-makers” in the society with extraordinary achievements locally and globally, the poor representation of women in politics is concerning. Despite the fact that Sri Lanka proudly produced the world’s first female Prime Minister as far back in 1960, the women’s voice remains less heard in closed rooms where important decisions and polices are made.
Reserved seats
There have been various efforts, especially in the past decade, to bridge this gender gap by way of new legal and institutional frameworks. For the first time, a 25 percent mandatory quota for women was introduced for the Local Government (LG) bodies by amending the relevant law in 2017. Its implementation encountered some initial hiccups, but the female representation in the LG bodies shot up from the previous 2 percent to 23 percent following the LG Elections in 2018.
Similarly, the then Government also amended the Provincial Councils (PC) Elections Act to provide for a reserved seat quota for women in Provincial Councils, but it was combined with another broader amendment to change the electoral system to a Mixed Member Proportional System. The rushed and non-transparent process adhered to during its passage courted controversy as to whether the Government’s real intention behind the move was to postpone the PC Elections.
“The PC Elections have not been conducted for about six years now. There is a tendency to reverse this Amendment and go back to the old electoral system of Proportional Representation (PR) after the next Presidential Election. In that case, we propose to introduce a women’s quota for at least nominations. In general, the political parties have not readily welcome the women’s quota given the new challenges it poses to them,” Rohana Hettiarachchi, Executive Director of People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said.
“The status quo cannot be changed only by amending laws. The process requires a socio-political shift where the perception on women’s involvement in politics is also changed. The females, who already serve on representative bodies, have a bigger role to play in making that change happen.
They can lead by example to show how the increased female representation in politics help solve some burning issues the country is facing right now, such as corruption. Despite whatever obstacles that may come on their way, they must make a positive, tangible and conspicuous impact in the society to practically prove their point,” Hettiarachchi added, joining in a virtual panel discussion organised by the National Movement for Social Justice.
He underlined that the level of women’s representation in law and policy making has increasingly been used worldwide to gauge the governance of that particular country.
Another two private member’s bills to make more room for women in politics are now pending before the House. Presented by Parliamentarian Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle in May, one of them seeks to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act to make it mandatory for all political parties to include at least 30 percent of women office bearers, in a decision making capacity in the party. The policy analysts point out that it is a low-hanging fruit that can be pushed through Parliament without much ado. The other is a constitutional amendment which requires the National Lists of recognised political parties and independent groups to nominate at least 50 percent of women members to Parliament.
New law
The Women’s Empowerment Act was the latest move of the Government to mend the prevailing gender inequity. Passed in Parliament last month, it provides for the establishment of a seven-member National Commission on Women, the formulation of a National Policy on Advancement and Empowerment of Women, and establish mechanisms to protect women’s rights. It is also meant to introduce mechanisms to give effect to obligations undertaken under the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), to which Sri Lanka ratified in 1981.
“Many commissions have mushroomed lately, but one can question their effectiveness and urgency. We have over 300 commissions and similar bodies in this country. Yet another commission will not solve this problem, unless it is given enough resources, power and independence. To concentrate resources where they are really needed, the Government must re-evaluate and decide which one of them are necessary to be continued,” Dr. Sujatha Gamage, Senior Research Fellow at LIRNEasia commented joining in the virtual discussion.
“The National Commission on Women does not have judicial powers, but it can investigate and conduct public hearings on matters coming under its purview. Without limiting its scope to such matters, the Commission should look into the welfare and rights protection of underprivileged women, who are facing a hard time due to economic and social issues,” she added.
Socio-political barriers
She emphasised that the women law-makers should make a more active and meaningful contribution to the contemporary public discourse to make their presence felt. “I believe that women public representatives should not only be talking about women’s rights, but actively take up on the burning issues of the country, let it be in the field of education, health, economy, transport or other,” she noted.
Meanwhile, the foreign media reports highlighted that the UK Parliamentary Election concluded on July 4 has elected a record number of 263 female MPs to fill over 40 percent of its 650-seat House of Commons, and that half of them are new faces. It was also reported that, Britain’s new Cabinet has the highest female representation in the UK history, with top positions such as the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is also the UK’s Chief Finance Minister, have been filled by women. Needless to say, Sri Lankan women have miles to go even to get closer to half of that achievement.
While all efforts to increase the female presence in the heavily male dominant political space in Sri Lanka is welcoming, the attention must also be paid to address the many constraints faced by them in performing well in the highly competitive political race.
The women, who generally have less access to campaign funding than men, frequently stand a step back in the race from the word go. Added to this, violence against women in politics, including pervasive online harassments, and discriminatory media practices act as further deterrents to women contesting for political office.
The quota system may help increase the numbers of women in elected bodies, but that alone will not be sufficient for them to survive in the game of politics, which is often marred by ugly tactics and manoeuvres.
If we are to build a strong women’s leadership, the road must be free of pitfalls for more professional women, even those who do not have any political lineage, to take up politics without risking their dignity and family life. Change does not happen overnight, but even the baby steps that the country takes today, will matter in making that big difference happen.
