Vetoing women prejudic in politics

2017-07-31
The year 1931 marked a milestone in the history of Sri Lanka, with women
receiving the right to vote and get involved in politics. However today, the
representation of women in local politics has been the lowest among the South
Asian nations. Sri Lanka is ranked 180 out of 190 in the IPU ranking of female
representation in Parliament as of July 2017, which of course was reason to raise
concern.
The Parliament passed the Local Authorities Elections Act No. 1 of 2016, to
increase womens representation at the local govt level as an advancing step to
improve women involvement in politics. Until the amendment passed in 2016, the
Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act No. 22 of 2012 only provided for a

25% non-mandatory quota for both

women and youth. Following the Amendment, a 25% mandatory quota for
women was introduced, by increasing the total number of seats at the local
authority level by one-third which is an optimistic result.
Hence, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the
Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), UN Women and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), came forward to collaborate in
organizing a discussion forum on operationalizing the 25% quota for women in
local government which was held on Wednesday, 26 July 2017 at Lakshman
Kadirgamar Institute, Horton Place, Colombo 7.
This event aimed on shedding light on the operationalization of the mandatory
25% quota for women candidates at the local government level through
discussions in the attempts of ensuring that this quota for women is successfully
put into operation at the upcoming local govt elections, demonstrating the
benefits of womens political participation.

"After the 18th Constitutional Amendment of Pakistan in 2010, the local

government has become a provincial matter and has implemented a reserved 33%
quota for women which is a big step towards women empowerment in Pakistan"
Sri Lankan Partisanship
 Women representation in parliament has never
gone above 6%. This is not acceptable in a country where majority of the
population is women.
Una McCauley, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Sri
Lanka

There is a disconnection between Sri Lankas noteworthy achievements in the

fields like education and health compared to the lack of enthusiasm of womens
participation in politics and parliament. Women representation in parliament has
never gone above 6%. This is not acceptable in a country where majority of the
population is women. At 25%, the bar is set very low. But we have to work with
that and need to achieve the target. She continued to say that when talking
about women, the improvement in the political governance, reduction in the level
of corruption, opportunities for addressing a different set of priorities other than
those identified by men and positive correlation to socio-economic development
should also be of concern.

When it comes to local government, we have the lowest figures of

representation in South Asia
Kumudini Samuel, Programme /Research Associate Women & Media Collective
This 25% quota for women in local govt was implemented only after a
tremendous struggle by many to overcome more than 25 years of advocacy. Sri
Lanka women have been historically discriminated. In particular, when it comes to
local govt, we have the lowest figures of representation in South Asia and
anywhere in the world, which is less than 2% stated Samuel. She further noted
while Sri Lanka did not meet the standard for the millennium development goals,
the country is currently nowhere near to reaching the standards of the
sustainable development goals.
"Sri Lanka women have been historically discriminated. In particular, when it
comes to local govt, we have the lowest figures of representation in South Asia
and anywhere in the world, which is less than 2%"

Politics in Sri Lanka is not women-friendly

- Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle, State Minister of City Planning and Water
Supply

In the development and advancement of society, there is no difference as both

men and women progress with indifference. According to Dr. Fernandopulle,
women go a long way ahead especially in the fields of education and health. More
women gain admission to universities as well. But when it comes to politics, in Sri
Lanka, women are quite behind. Looking at other countries of the world,
especially those in the South Asian region, we are at the bottom. At national level,
women representation at the parliament is only 5.8% but 51.4% of the Sri Lankan
population are women. In 1931, we women gained equal rights to vote. But
women had to step out in to the streets and fight for their rights.

She stated that in other countries, women participation in politics has increased
through quotas and their governments have encouraged women participation. In
Sri Lanka, such practical actions have not taken place up to now. But I am thankful
to the President and Prime Minister, as an act to increase women representation
in politics by 25% has been proposed to the parliament. The way I see it, quotas
are an advantage for women to enter into politics. But we are not going to always
ask for quotas. If we get quotas just twice or thrice it will be enough to motivate
women to enter politics, from that point on, I believe they can stand on their own
feet and go ahead in the field of politics, as women have shown great talent in
other fields as well.
In Sri Lanka, such practical actions have not taken place up to now. But I am
thankful to the President and Prime Minister, as an act to increase women
representation in politics by 25% has been proposed to the parliament
Dr. Fernandopulle also mentioned having taken steps to initiate more women
involvement in politics by raising awareness. Male politicians say there are no
women to take up politics. Where are women who want to do politics? they ask.
The truth is there are plenty of women but the barrier of lack of opportunity
stands in the way. When we consider political parties, there is no big plan to
involve women in politics. Political leaders have no confidence that women can
win this struggle. Therefore even when we achieve the 25% quota, changes have
to be made within political parties. For women to be more involved, women
representation has to increase by 30% in the least. Only then will the probability
of women entering politics will increase.
The minister stressed that general perception of politics in the country is not a
good one and should be subjected to change. We have to create positive views
on politics. Today even media do not give publicity to the female political figures.
Only failures or mistakes committed by female politicians are highlighted through
media. Every politician is labelled as a thief. So a fear is created for the future
leaders who approach politics as they have to be able to bear the criticism that is
entitled to politics. That is why some say that most
politicians who enter politics have a family background in that field. This is not
just applied to women but also men. The initial motivation is given within the
family. They are used to the challenges and criticism that come with the territory
of politics so they are able to face and bear them. But the opportunity has to be
given to normal citizens to enter politics as well. So a positive perspective has to
be created about politics in the country. Parents often tell their children to
become doctors, engineers or lawyers. But no one tells their children to become
politicians. Even we dont tell a child to pursue politics now as it has been
portrayed as a very corrupt field through media. If this view does not change what
position will the country go to? We have to create leaders in the next generation
to accept and take our country forward. So we have to change society now itself.
So from a young age, in schools and universities, a positive light has to be shed on
politics as an occupation making it a positive concept.
Getting women into politics is apparently not enough as Dr. Sudarshani pointed
out that a positive atmosphere is not existent for female politicians to further
prevail in the field. Looking after children, family responsibilities have been
placed on the shoulders of women alone by society. It is a stereotype based
society. So the atmosphere has to be set for women to make economical and
political contributions. Politics in Sri Lanka is not women-friendly.
On a final note the struggle that women have to go through to be heard was
exemplified. It is quite clear that Dr. Fernandopulle believes that women can
make a positive impact on politics and lead the country forward. We have also
requested a 30% increase in female candidates at national level while 50% of the
national list to be allocated for females. If women who are interested in politics
and have talent volunteer to enter into the quota mechanism, women can create
change and make history in the governance of the country. The capabilities of the
13 lady politicians have been acknowledged by the 213 male politicians at the
parliament so it is quite clear that we as women can create great impact on the
concept of politics within the country.

International Politics
Comparative experiences on advancing womens political participation from the
UK and Pakistan were shared during the event, also discussing the role of civil
society in advancing womens representation through the political party
systems.

Our goal ultimately was not to have a certain

number of candidates but get those candidates elected
- Nan Sloane of Labour Party, UK Local Government Councillor
She recalled that initially their situation was no different to the current situation
faced by Sri Lanka, with the percentage of women representation in politics being
very low. While the intentions to improve the situation were existent, very little
concrete actions were taken. The political party represented by Sloane had
decided on a specific quota for female candidates, which was implemented in
1995 for party elections and in 2004 for local govt elections.
My view is that there are enough women, but if they are reluctant to come
forward, and if they dont want to accept the offer to the political arena, the
problem lies in the nature of the offer itself and not in the women
People assume that there are not enough women to fill all the seats that need
filling. My view is that there are enough women, but if they are reluctant to come
forward, and if they dont want to accept the offer to the political arena, the
problem lies in the nature of the offer itself and not in the women, remarked
Sloane, speaking about the reluctance of women to take leading roles in politics.
 We concentrated on seats that we had a reasonable chance of winning, because
our goal ultimately was not to have a certain number of candidates but get those
candidates elected. Our efforts have resulted in an overall increase of women
councillors in our party from about 28% to 40%, says the seasoned councillor.
According to Nan, the potential candidates should not only be educated but also
supported for them to step in to politics which is a very unfamiliar and challenging
environment for most women. She said that their ultimate goal was to increase
womens participation up to 50% and they would continue to strive to keep up
that percentage.

You have women in your communities who take on leading roles, whether it is to
open up a library or to improve public transportation
Clare Haughey, Scottish National Party member of Scottish Parliament
Elucidated that their party decided to increase the number of women by initiating
women participation from the grassroots level. Speaking on the practical
application of the decision she recalls that it was made mandatory to have a
woman official at every branch. There is also a National womens officer who
coordinates the branch officers and every year at least one womens conference
is held. Their efforts have come to fruition today, with 43% of the Scottish
National Party representatives being women.
"You have women in your communities who take leading roles, whether it is to
open up a library or to improve public transportation. Those are the women that
you should work with and motivate for them to come far in politics"
 You have women in your communities who take leading roles, whether it is to
open up a library or to improve public transportation. Those are the women that
you should work with and motivate for them to come far in politics, concluded
the Scottish representative.

Womens participation in politics cannot be

made effective unless there is progressive socio-cultural change
Amra Khan, member of Pakistan National Assembly

Equal participation of women and men in decision making and political arena is
one of the fundamentals of democracy, in the absence of which the legitimacy of
democratic process becomes questionable, also violating the basic human rights-
Right of gender equality and no discrimination.
After the 18th Constitutional Amendment of Pakistan in 2010, the local
government has become a provincial matter and has implemented a reserved
33% quota for women which is a big step towards women empowerment in
Pakistan
She further stated that in 1997, womens participation in politics in Pakistan was
4% in the provincial assemblies, 2% in the senate, and 4% in the national
assembly. In 2002 the local government reforms were brought forward, ensuring
the provision of 23% of womens quota in local governance, which provided a
tremendous opportunity for women to play an important role in the
developmental process.
 We are working with different organizations to encourage and empower women
who take to politics. After the 18th Constitutional Amendment of Pakistan in
2010, the local government has become a provincial matter and has implemented
a reserved 33% quota for women which is a big step towards women
empowerment in Pakistan. Womens participation in politics cannot be made
effective unless there is progressive socio-cultural change. Political parties should
include women empowerment in the party leadership, policy making and
electoral nominating process. Special training and mentorship programs should
be organized with public and private partnerships to encourage female political
participation.

Media play a crucial role in changing the socio-cultural mindsets of the society
regarding womens political participation, providing gender sensitive coverage
and avoiding of stereotyping.

Our approach to empowering women into

politics and into the party is by actively encouraging them to get involved by
mentoring and teaching women the best ways to be cool with politicians
Hannah David, Conservative National Director, Conservative Party Policy Forum,
UK
Hannah briefed on the organizations and proactive ways that the conservative
party utilizes to approach and get women involved in politics. She also spoke
about policy forums getting women involved in politics through getting them
involved in policy formation.
Two issues that we are always dealing with are the supply and demand issues.
The supply issue is how we ensure that enough women come forward and the
demand issues are how the parties currently active, approach diversity within
their membership selection procedures. Our approach to empowering women
into politics and into the party is by actively encouraging them to get involved by
mentoring them and teaching them the best ways to be cool to politicians and to
actively engage with those who are not elected.
She elaborated on the work done by the organizations intended for this purpose.
Civil society organizations have been useful to us. Conservative womens
organization showing the priority that the conservative party has with regards to
engaging women, this organization is constitutionally mandated by the
Conservative Party. Role of it is to provide support and focus for women through
reaching out to women in all parts of the community. This is done by campaigning
on particular issues that are of concern to women and ensuring that the womens
perspective is taken into account in our policies. We encourage women at all
levels to get politically active. My experience was also the same when I was
elected as councillor in national politics. I received the same mentoring and
training and now I participate in giving that training.
Posted by Thavam