A quota system for women and term limitations for Parliamentarians

In the aftermath of the General Elections, the results have shown that there is a lack of willingness to elect women into the supreme decision-making body of this country. Further, we have also failed to elect younger leaders (below 30 years) to the house this time. 

The role of young people and women in elections was merely restricted to participating and promoting the election campaigns of candidates. Looking at the results of this election, we have very few female parliamentarians who have been elected. 

Out of those elected, almost half of them have been re-elected, which has meant that very few new faces have made it to the new parliament. In a country in which 51% of the population is made up of women, statistically, the parliament comprises around 3% of women.

Moreover, this also confirms that the thinking of the society at large about women and the standards and framework in which women operate in this country. In the past, there has been a lot of discussion about women representation in politics. Since then, efforts have been made to increase female representation at the nomination levels. 

However, the current electoral system possesses some inherent challenges for women to contest and get elected to the parliament or even to local and provincial government bodies. Merely accommodating more women in the nomination list has proven a failure without a change in the electoral system. I hope that at least this parliament would introduce a bill to amend the current electoral system. If not, I propose that there must be a quota system in place to ensure greater representation of women in parliament and other elected bodies. A quota system, for instance, could be implemented to ensure a minimum of 25 percent of the seats allocated for women with at least one female candidate represented in each district.

Introduction of such a system will ensure that women are adequately represented in parliament and other elected bodies and that they have their say at the highest decision-making levels. The existing system has only promoted female candidates either coming from a family with a background in politics or those who are celebrities. 

It almost has become an unwritten policy that females who belong to the above two categories are the ones who can be elected at a parliamentary election. Bringing a quota system for women representation will put a stop to this practice and ensure that more women are brought decision-making levels from a cross-section of society. 

Furthermore, when we look at the pattern of voting this time around, it appears that people have voted across party lines than by looking at the values and principles that the candidates hold. Interestingly, more than 50% of the members elected this time were former members of parliament. 

While agreeing with the need for experienced politicians to be in parliament, it is also necessary to maintain a balance between experienced parliamentarians and young and new parliamentarians. We cannot simply do this without a policy change.

I also believe there has to be a limitation on the number of terms given to each parliamentarian. We cannot have parliamentarians sitting in parliament for decades, expecting that there would be a new political culture or change in this country. 

The number of terms could be restricted to three. Three terms for a parliamentarian will give them adequate time and opportunity to serve the nation for a period of 15 years. This is good enough for anyone to plan and do some work to uplift the living standards of the people in his or her district. This will ensure that there is space for newcomers to enter parliament.

By having a quota system and a limit on the number of terms for parliamentarians, I believe we would be able to have a more progressive and representative legislature. For the past 70 years, we have lost so many things as a country, and we cannot afford to lose anymore. 

If we are to grow economically and give a better future for our children, our thinking must change, and that change must start from electing the right leaders to take our nation forward, and we must not shy away from introducing such policies.  

Countries that were far behind us in terms of development have overtaken us in the past 50 years. We cannot and we will not be able to do better if we do not make radical policy changes. This is the only way forward for us to thrive and compete globally, or else we will always be a country that is dependent externally and not on our own thinking.

The writer is the Head of Relief and Development - Alliance Development Trust and former spokesperson of the Opposition Leader in Parliament of Sri Lanka.