Photo courtesy of Muragala
Sri Lanka’s battle for gender equality in politics has once again been marred by systemic barriers and patriarchal attitudes. The latest challenge? A new wave of obstacles facing women candidates in the upcoming local authority elections, including how the 25% women’s quota will be fulfilled, as the men within political parties seem more determined to maintain control than to allow women the chance to be elected.
A woman politician who contested the last parliamentary election, speaking anonymously, shared her frustrations. “I was supposed to file an individual election expense accounts statement under the new campaign finance act but my party insisted that they would handle it for me. I had no funds to raise nor did I spend anything personally as it was my party that covered my travel costs and other expenses. I didn’t know exactly how much was spent on my individual campaign expenses. I think my party hasn’t even spent Rs. 20,000 sending me around to ask for votes. So, I thought the party had filed my individual expenses as well. Now, after a long police investigation, a case has been filed against me for not submitting my election expenses. I wonder if I can even file my nomination for the local authority elections at this rate,”she said.
Another female former local authority member shared concerns about filing assets and liabilities declaration papers. “My party secretary said that since my son is working in the Middle East, his income must be declared in the form as he’s the one supporting my family. I’m now uncertain if my son will agree to me running for office,” she said.
The assets and liabilities declaration and the new campaign finance regulations were initially hailed as efforts to curb corruption and ensure fairer elections. However, in some instances, these measures have inadvertently become tools for men to frighten and exclude women. According to anti-corruption experts, these laws were designed to create a level playing field for women and not so monied persons.
The women’s quota highlights a broader issue of women’s political participation shaped by the complex interplay of party structures, legal frameworks and deeply ingrained societal norms. While the legal requirement of the women’s quota aims to facilitate women’s political involvement, it intersects with broader barriers, such as restrictions on campaigning methods. One such legal challenge arises from the prohibition of door to door campaigning in parliamentary and provincial elections. This door to door campaign has historically been an efficient, personal and low cost method for women candidates to reach voters in small constituencies (wards). This legal barrier restricts women from engaging with their communities in a direct, environment-friendly way, forcing them to find alternative, often more expensive methods to garner political support. Additionally, while this restriction applies only to parliamentary and provincial elections and not to the local authority elections, its broader interpretation by the Election Commission has created the perception among women running for local authority elections that they cannot undertake door to door campaigning.
“I am told that we can’t go door to door, and yet, for local elections with small, close-knit communities, this method is the most effective,” said another woman candidate. “Our parties also don’t provide us with the resources to set up stages for rallies and even then the platforms are reserved for men. How does the Election Commission expect us to campaign?”
In the local authority elections the wards are smaller and constituencies are also easily reachable physically. If door to door campaign is permitted that would give the voter to meet the prospective councillor, do an assessment of persons on offer and will be a low key affair with less expenses for candidates without any disruption of normal community life and avoid the big, heavily funded rallies and meetings and environment and sound pollution. By allowing house to house campaign the Elections Commission would be paving, at least minimally, towards providing a level campaign field for women.
A Muslim woman politician said that she wasn’t sure whether according to current election laws, she could host iftar gatherings (breaking fast) because she is to file her nomination soon. “I am a known politician in my area and I always have collective iftar and Tharaaweeh prayers for women (night prayer after breaking fast) at my house. Now all these can be claimed as my political campaign. The nominations for local authority election are called during the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is religously a signficant month in the Islamic calander and there are certain religious rituals that we have been observing and are expected to observe and perform. How can I not do these rituals and avoid being framed as campaigning for my forthcoming local authority election? My own party men will make complaints against me now,” she said. Often women politicians have softly complained about marginalisation and gender-based attacks from their own political party men in addition to humiliation and gender-based attacks from opposition party men.
“My party brings in women candidates whom they believe will be easy to control. The idea is not to empower these women but to keep them under the thumb of male leadership. Even after getting into office, many women have struggled to find their voice within their parties, constantly having to navigate a male-dominated system,” said another woman who has climbed to a decision making level in her own party.
Despite these challenges, several women who previously served in local councils from 2018 to 2023 through the women quota have gained significant political experience and exposure. However, the elections scheduled for 2023 were deliberately not held and now, with new nomination lists being prepared, these women are finding themselves sidelined.
A former local council member expressed her dismay. “We worked hard to secure our party’s victory continuously in my ward but now men in my party are looking for fresh faces, fearing that experienced women like us might challenge their positions. The excuse they use is the need to include 25% or more young people on the nomination list but in reality they are simply afraid of our political maturity and popularity,” she said.
This fear is palpable, especially among political parties that have historically been resistant to the quota system or any affirmative action towards promotion of women. Some, particularly those representing Tamil and Muslim communities, have shown reluctance toward the 25% women’s quota at the local level. One party leader even attempted to challenge the legislation that brought the quota into existence at the early stage. However, after the law was enacted and when it was nomination time, on the final day for nominations in 2018, these parties scrambled to meet the legal requirements, at times even submitting the names of women who had not agreed to run.
“Some parties have even forged signatures of women candidates, pushing forward their wives, mothers and daughters as placeholders,” revealed someone who was a victim of this forgery. “The quota is being abused and the intent of creating meaningful female representation is being subverted.”
Yet despite these setbacks, many women politicians, often labeled as “back-seaters” or “token representatives,” are proving their mettle. These women, who came into politics through the women’s quota, have used their positions to carve out real influence in their communities and local councils. In fact, some have reached out to women’s organizations for support on gender budgeting and navigating new regulations, further strengthening their capacity to lead.
Now, many of these women, armed with over four years of experience in being part of local political office, are seeking to contest elections through new parties or as independents as their own parties exclude them from the nomination lists. This new wave of determined candidates is creating a significant shift in the political landscape and the question remains, will political parties genuinely embrace gender parity or continue to uphold patriarchal norms?
The women’s quota is an affirmative action designed to ensure women gain political experience, enabling them to eventually progress through normal channels to get to politcal office with the ultimate goal of abolishing the quota. However, men in political parties are deliberately ensuring that women do not receive continued political experience or rise to become leading figures within parties. Instead, they are being used to serve the party hierarchy and remain subordinate.
As the election season heats up, the question that looms large is whether the political establishment is ready to engage with experienced women candidates or continue to hide behind tokenistic gestures of gender equality. The spotlight is now on the established parties to show whether they are committed to real change or merely interested in maintaining their dominance at all costs.