Women a dwindling species of MP

Just 10 women made it into parliament this week, even fewer than in the last election.

This means only one in 22 of the new parliament’s 225 MPs are female, a stark contrast with one in two members of the population being female.

Eight of the new female candidates were elected directly while two were nominated from the National List.

Three will be new faces in parliament: Rajika Wickremasinghe from the Kegalle district, Kokila Harshani Gunawardena from Gampaha, and Muditha de Zoysa from Ratnapura, all from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), which swept the polls.

Ratnapura sent the most number of women into parliament – three come from that district. Joining Mrs. De Zoysa, who is the wife of former MP Ranjith de Zoysa, are Pavithra Wanniarachchi ( SLPP) and Thalatha Athukorala (Samagi Jana Balawegaya – SJB).

Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle (SLPP) was elected from Gampaha, Geetha Kumarisnghe ( SLPP) from Galle and Rohini Kumari Kaviratne (SJB) from Matale.

In the 2015 general election, 12 women, were elected to the parliament but this year Hirunika Premachandra, Chandrani Bandara, Dr. Thusitha Wijemanna, Shriyani Wijewickrama and Sumedha Jayasena failed to be re-elected.

This is the first time since entering parliament in 1989 that Ms. Jayasena, who belongs to the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), has not won office. Her past portfolios include social services, parliamentary affairs and women’s affairs/empowerment.