Sri Lanka’s new electoral reforms should make space for more women representation in parliament, Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith Perera has said.
Following the election of President Maithripala Sirisena in January, the government has pledged to implement elections reforms with a new amendment to the constitution.
The composition of the new parliament and how it should be elected is a hot topic of debate in political circles.
Current plans include increasing Sri Lanka’s 225-member cabinet to 255 and adopting a proportional representation system.
Perera believes all major political parties have to commit that 50% of parliamentarians selected under the National List be women, according to Xinhua.
“Sri Lanka has many competent, qualified and intelligent women. But even though 52% of the population is women, we have a tiny amount of them in parliament. These reforms are the ideal chance to change that,” he said.
Perera argued it would be impossible to promote equitable legislation unless more women enter parliament.
Sirisena has already insisted parliament would be dissolved once electoral changes are passed into the constitution setting the stage for a fresh election.
Currently, female representation in Sri Lanka’s parliament is about 4.8% with just 13 female members out of 225 members of parliament.
