No, it is not old wine in a new bottle this time. A quick glance at the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka, which ceremonially convened for the first time last Thursday, hints a departure from the past, giving fresh hope for a more positive political culture.
By voting out the old guard, who had over time grown indifferent to the people’s sufferings and aspirations, the electorate has chosen a more dynamic and diverse group of individuals to represent them in the nation’s highest law-making body.
Diversity and inclusion, as often said, are cornerstones of progress and success. From Sugath Wasantha De Silva, the first visually impaired activist to be part of the national legislature, to Ambika Samuel and Krishnan Kalaichelvi, the first two Malaiyaha Tamil (Tamils of Indian origin) women to become Parliamentarians, the new Parliament is more inclusive than it has been in decades.
Breaking records
Among the many firsts witnessed in the freshly concluded General Election is the record number of 22 women who entered Parliament. They will hopefully bring colour—both literally and figuratively—to an institution that was predominated by males.
They are expected to bring unique perspectives that balance the debate in the August Assembly, leading to better decisions, a stronger democracy and a more just society.
Nearly one in ten Members of Parliament (MPs) (9.8 percent) are women in the newly-elected Parliament, a significant increase given that female representation in all preceding Parliaments had not exceeded 13 MPs or 6 percent. All of them, except two – Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Rohini Kumari Wijeratne- are fresh faces. In fact, more than two-thirds of the new Parliament is occupied by new-comers, both male and female. The previous Parliament, elected in 2020, had only 12 women MPs (National List MP Diana Gamage was later unseated by a Supreme Court order over a dispute of her citizenship), and notably, there was no Tamil or Muslim female MP among them.
Dr. Harini Amarasuriya receiving her appointment as the Prime Minister and Education Minister
The credit for improved representation of women in the national law-making body largely goes to the National People’s Power (NPP) led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Twenty out of the 22 female MPs are from the NPP, which has comfortably secured a two-thirds majority in the House. Twenty-one of them were elected, while Attorney-At-Law Lakmali Hemachandra was appointed from the National List. The other two women were elected from the SJB ticket. Among the 22 women MPs are 12 attorneys-at-law and five teachers.
Academic-turned- politician
Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, a senior lecturer by profession, is the first-ever PhD holder to become the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. She first entered Parliament in 2020 through
the sole National List seat secured by the NPP. With 655,289 votes in the ‘General Election 2024’, Dr. Amarasuriya holds the record for the highest preferential votes in Colombo and the highest by a woman. The academic-turned- politician has been entrusted with the responsibilities of the Education Ministry.
Saroja Savithri Paulraj, who polled 148,379 preferential votes in the Matara District, has been appointed the Women and Child Affairs Minister. She was a teacher and a visiting lecturer before taking up politics. She is the first Tamil woman to enter Parliament from the Southern Province.
Appointing NPP Gampaha District MP Hemali Weerasekara to the post of Deputy Chairman of Committees was another milestone, as no woman had previously held the positions of Speaker, Deputy Speaker, or Deputy Chairman of Committees. One might recall how MP Rohini Wijeratne’s nomination for Deputy Speaker was defeated on the floor of the House in May 2022, due to a lack of consensus. MP Hemali Weerasekara, a teacher by profession, is also a former member of the Mahara Pradeshiya Sabha.
Beyond lineage
For 93 years since Adeline Molamure, Sri Lanka’s first female legislator who was elected to the State Council in 1931, only about 70 women had represented the national legislature at different times, up to September 2024. Most of these women had to depend on family political lineage to win their seats for the first time.
In, one may note that most of the women in the new Parliament are not related by blood or marriage to well-known male politicians. Of course, SJB MP Chamindrani Kiriella, the daughter of seasoned politician Lakshman Kiriella, SJB MP Rohini Kumari Wijeratne, the daughter of ex-Parliamentarian K. Y. M. Wijeratne Banda and widow of ex-Parliamentarian Sanjeeva Kaviratne, and NPP MP Samanmalee Gunasinghe, the wife of Minister Bimal Rathnayake, have political family backgrounds.
Lady Adeline Molamure, the first female member of the State
Council of Ceylon
However, MP Samanmalee Gunasinghe has taken the plunge to politics as a student leader as far back as 1994, even before meeting her spouse, and has been involved in full time politics since then. MP Rohini Wijeratne has also carved her own path in politics over time, winning the hearts and minds of her electorate. Emerging stronger than her male counterparts in the party, she secured the only seat for the SJB in Matale in the ‘General Election 2024’. Likewise, first-timer Chamindrani Kiriella, an attorney-at-law, will need to prove her mettle independently of her political inheritance if she is serious about a long journey in politics.
Raising the Bar
Another remarkable feature of the new Parliament is the presence of two hill-country Tamil women— MP Krishnan Kalaichelvi from Nuwara Eliya and MP Ambika Samuel from Badulla. They signal the end of an era of suppression of the estate community. These trailblazing women, who have broken through barriers, will leave the door open behind them for others from marginalized communities.
The newly introduced Campaign Finance Law, which limits candidates’ election expenditures and requires the disclosure of all donations received and expenses incurred, may have helped women compete with their male counterparts on a more level playing field.
The electorate naturally recognizing more women for decision-making roles is far better than having to allocate a quota for their representation. Now that these women have secured their parliamentary seats, their active and progressive contributions to law and policy making and parliamentary watchdog committees matter in making their presence strongly felt. This, in turn, will encourage more professional young women, aspiring to make a positive change in the country, to take up politics.
Inarguably, all voters across party lines want to see a more cultured Parliament than what was witnessed in recent years.
From throwing chairs and chilli powder to flexing muscles on the well of the House, the public has seen it all with disdain. Allegations of shadowy wheeler-dealing have rocked Parliament many times, raising serious doubts about MPs’ conflicts of interest. This sorry state of affairs led to the call to ‘clean Parliament,’ which eventually became the ruling NPP’s campaign slogan.
Former United States President Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as a “Government of the people, by the people and for the people”. True to this spirit, the newly-elected public representatives- both male and female, across party lines- will have to work towards winning back public faith by mending the chasm between Parliament and the common man on the street while committing to a more dignified and civilized Parliament.
