Women leaders to the fore

It was indeed welcome news when we read that women were in the majority in Parliament after the last general elections in Iceland. This may be a good omen for the other countries to follow. Unfortunately for this to happen in our country we will have to bide our time till Maithree Budun or Diyasena comes as the old folks would say or till the pigs can fly.

It is a real shame that Sri Lanka, after having the world’s first woman Prime Minister has not been able to move forward except to have a few females holding Cabinet portfolios in the governments that have been in power, but with a minimal contribution towards leadership. Soon after Mrs. Sirimavo Banadaranaike had taken over the reins of our country, it was Golda Meir who became the Prime Minister of Israel. Then India followed with Indira Gandhi, Bangladesh had two women Prime Ministers in Sheik Hasina and Khaleda Zia. These two were at each other’s throat to take over the leadership alternatively. In South East Asia, the next to take over the reins of a country was Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. However, in all these countries it was only the Prime Minister and one or two female members of parliament. The strange thing about this is that all these women leaders were from the so-called developing countries, except in the case of Israel. The developed countries had to wait for a long time to see a woman Prime Minister and this was when Margaret Thatcher was elected to that position in the United Kingdom, who seemed to be a stronger leader than most of the male leaders Britain had. Though Theresa May followed her later, she was no patch on the Iron Lady.

In South America, they have had women leaders such as Eva Peron of Argentina who have done well for their countries. But they too fell prey to corruption when they had all the powers and had to leave with shame. New Zealand and Finland are the only two countries which have had three female leaders and these ladies have done well for their countries. Other female leaders have been Yingluck Shinawatra Prime Minister of Thailand, Helle Thorning-Schmidt Prime Minister of Denmark, Kristina Fernandez Kirchner President of Argentina, Dilma Rouseff Prime Minister of Brazil, Julia Gillard Prime Minister of Australia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf President of Liberia, Johanna Sigurdardottie Prime Minister of Iceland, Laura Chinchilla President of Cost Rica, Tarja Halonen President of Finland, Dalia Grybauskite President of Lithuania and Kamla Persad-Bissessar Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

We are all aware that Mrs. Bandaranaike wanted to make this country self-sufficient in agricultural produce. Towards achieving this end she banned imports of all products to ensure that the farmers achieved the targets to make the country self-sufficient. Her government also banned the import of vehicles to save foreign exchange. Those who had to go abroad had to manage with five Sterling Pounds. Only persons who had savings abroad were allowed to bring the cars that they had used whilst abroad. All this was done to make the country self-sufficient and prevent foreign exchange being spent unnecessarily. However, it was an entirely different story when her younger daughter took over the leadership as the fourth Executive President.

There were a few women who have held Cabinet ministerial positions at various times. But none of them have made a mark to be appreciated. We also have had women at the helm of local government authorities and also Chairpersons of Corporations and Banks. Again they have done nothing of importance to write home about.

We have had a number of women who have represented Sri Lanka abroad as High Commissioners and Ambassadors from the time that Mrs. Loranee Senaratne was sent as our High Commissioner in Ghana as the first woman ambassador(from outside the Foreign Service). Here, too, there was none of the political appointees who had made a valuable contribution except to lie abroad for our country. Some of the women career diplomats have done well on behalf of their motherland.

At present there are a few women leaders who have done outstandingly well for their countries. Angela Merkel who is due to relinquish the position of the Chancellor of Germany after a very long innings has been the most outstanding leader who had done an unforgettable service to her country without using any perks available to a Head.

The next great female leader is Jacinda Ardern who has saved New Zealand from the Covid-19 pandemic. She has taken the correct decisions at every turn to help her countyrymen and all this without resorting to any corruption.

The Taiwanese President, Tsai Ing-Wen is another lady to be admired. She has stood firm against the might of China to protect her small island without capitulating.

It is time for Sri Lanka to get some patriotic women leaders to emulate Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, unlike the ones we have had as Ministers involved in conspiracies and corruption and the members of Parliament who have been as if they were dumb.

HM Nissanka Warakaulle