‘Women’s quota’ at risk of being scrapped – Manjula

Text and pic by PRIYAN DE SILVA

Executive Director of the newly formed Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) Manjula Gajanayake said that the ‘Women’s Quota’ was at risk of being scrapped and might die a natural death as no political party had taken the women’s quota seriously.

Gajanayake made these comments addressing a round table discussion organised by the Sri Lanka office of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) on the ‘Women’s Quota’ at the Galle Face Hotel on Wednesday.

“It is sad to see the 2006 female members of local government institutes being ignored and furthermore, political parties are hesitant to delegate responsibilities to female activists”, he added.

The ‘Women’s Quota’ is a legislated mandatory quota introduced in 2018 to ensure female representation in the Local Government bodies. Members of the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus State Minister Sudarshani Fernandopulle and Member of Parliament Rohini Kumari Wijerathna, Member of Parliament Harsha de Silva, Colombo Mayoress Rosy Senanayake, Executive Director of PAFFREL Rohana Hettiarachchi, female political activists, members of youth wings, representatives of donor agencies and NGOs contributed to a meaningful discussion.

The Westminster Foundation for Democracy is a public body in the United Kingdom dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world through supporting the development of and working with parliamentarians, political parties, independent institutions, and civil society organisations.