COLOMBO : Mannar Women’s Development Federation has urged the Election Commissioner to adopt the 25 percent quota for women councilslocwl bodies
In an open letter to the commission, the women’s group it is said “ iThe Sri Lankan local authority elections have concluded, successfully triggering the process of meeting the legally mandated 25% quota for women in seat allocations.
Despite a low voter turnout, women were visibly active in all aspects of the electoral process—campaigning, voting,
contesting, and featuring on reserve lists. Many experienced women from previous local councils chose to contest, either through party endorsement or independently when denied nominations.
This election marks a promising increase in women securing votes and re-entering or entering local politics. However, the fragmentation of seats—with many small parties securing only one or two
seats—has made fulfilling the “one woman for every three seats” requirement more complex.
Past trends show reluctance from parties to nominate women, even when the threshold is met, and in previous elections, some local authorities failed to meet the 25% quota entirely, citing “hang seats”
as justification.
According to the 2017 amendment to the Local Authorities Elections Act, the Election
Commission (EC) is legally obligated to ensure the 25% women’s quota is fulfilled. This includes using the proportional representation list to compensate for women not elected via the first-pastthe-post system. The EC must strictly enforce compliance, ensuring that every local council includes at least 25% women, including young women. In cases where a party secures two seats, the EC can and should insist that at least one be allocated to a woman. Political parties that fulfill the quota should be publicly acknowledged, while those that fail to comply should be held accountable.
Ultimately, it is the Election Commission’s legal and ethical duty to enforce the women’s quota and uphold gender representation in local governance.”
