Women's representation in local government in Sri Lanka: a study on the new (local government) electoral system

Abstract

The female population of Sri Lanka is 51.6%. Women are well represented in a variety of sectors, such as education, health, etc. Women's presence in political institutions is low, despite the fact that it is considerable in grassroot level political activities. In light of the rising female population, it is by no means adequate. To address this issue, Sri Lanka's local government entities now have a mixed election system and a 25% female quota system under the Local Government Election (Amendment) Act No. 01 of 2016 and No. 16 of 2017. It was first put into practice in the 2018 local elections. The goal of this study was to determine whether the aforementioned constitutional provisions have resulted in a numerical increase of 25% in the representation of women in local government, whether the quality of participation has increased as a result, and whether these provisions will result in the creation of a new, promising women's representation in the future national politics. It is important to examine whether the 25% women's representation quota system introduced by the aforementioned constitutional provision has grown numerically and whether the stated goals have been achieved in practice with regard to women's representation. For this study, both primary and secondary data were used. A questionnaire based on 60 selected delegates from 12 local governing bodies was used to gather primary data in the Kalutara district. Simple statistical techniques were used to analyze quantitative data and information, and descriptive techniques were used to analyze quantitative data and information. MS Excel program was used to analyze the primary data. New constitutional provisions have resulted in a numerical increase of 25% for women's representation in local government bodies. It evolved from elected officials. Although the number of women in leadership positions has increased, their qualitative participation has not. It is observed that the level of quality participation has been hampered. The development of a women's representation that can inspire fresh optimism for tomorrow's politics on the national level, is not at a satisfactory level. Therefore, the constitutional measures that were enacted to promote women's representation have not actually achieved their intended goals.