The Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I second the motion brought by Hon. Chathura Galappaththi, which is timely. As a woman, I will address two aspects he raised: the composition of the electorate and the tenure/number of terms.

¶ 02 First, the flaw dates to 1931, which referred to “gentlemen of the country.” At that time, ladies were not recognized in that phrasing, and today custom and doctrine are being conflated to justify exclusion. But as he showed, our foremost relics—the Sacred Tooth Relic and the Sri Maha Bodhi—came to Sri Lanka through two great women. Thus that “custom” argument collapses.

¶ 03 In the Anguttara Nikaya’s Satta Aparihaniya Dhamma, the Buddha told the Licchavi princes that as long as women and girls are honored and respected, their progress will not decline. The Buddha, a peaceful revolutionary, transformed the rigid social conditions of ancient India. He taught that Dhamma is common to both men and women; gender is the only difference, opening the path even to Punṇā the slave-woman, Rajjumala, and Patacara, not only to Mahaprajapati Gotami and Yasodhara.

¶ 04 Further, when the British took the Kandyan Kingdom in 1815, this franchise was limited to areas called the “Udarata.” Today, voting is by 177 Divisional Secretariats; 85 male officers vote, leaving 92 disenfranchised—women and non-Buddhists. I believe most of those 92 are women. For example, in Kandy there are 20 divisions; 13 have female Divisional Secretaries. In Matale, of 11 divisions, 6 are headed by women.

¶ 05 Sri Lanka has 339 Divisional Secretariats; with sub-offices, 341. Of these, 164 are headed by women. The trend is increasing. State administration has already been overtaken by women. If the law were applied simply to “Divisional Secretaries,” the remaining voters would largely be monks. Hon. Minister, therefore please intervene to extend to women the right that was limited to “gentlemen.” Nowhere in Buddhism are women treated as second-class; nor in our Constitution. Hence the relevant part of the Ordinance must be amended—with the consent, guidance and blessings of the Most Venerable Chief Prelates of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters and the Anunayake Theras and Karaka Sangha Sabhas. I so propose.

¶ 06 Thank you.