The Hon. (Ms.) Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, on the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8 March, the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus has brought a proposal on unpaid care work—namely, that Sri Lanka should adopt a National Care Policy.

¶ 02 Much has been said on care work, and the Leader of the Opposition also raised the Women’s Commission today. I wish to reflect on women’s political journey and respond to the notion—repeated by the Opposition—that there is a conflict between the Women’s Commission and the Government. That is incorrect; no such intent exists on our part.

¶ 03 Historically, women had a very limited place in politics, even though Sri Lanka produced the world’s first woman Prime Minister and later our first woman President. Yet, beyond a narrow strata, ordinary women lacked freedom to engage in politics, due to money, internal party violence and other barriers. About fifty years ago, left parties like the LSSP and Communist Party had eminent women—Vivienne Goonewardene, Doreen Wickremasinghe, Kusuma Gunawardena—who were respected, but they too came with strong family-political backgrounds.

¶ 04 For the first time, in this 10th Parliament, there are 20 women MPs who entered politics on their own, without family dynasties or inherited power. This is a decisive political moment that has not been adequately recognized in public discourse. Notably, for the first time ever, two women from the plantation (Malaiyaha) Tamil community are MPs. This must be acknowledged as a specific political milestone.

¶ 05 We therefore invite all women and the women’s movement to accord this moment its due respect and engage constructively. Unfortunately, some in the Opposition attempt to create a sense of division between women in civil society and women in politics, even challenging women MPs on women’s rights, while ignoring how few women exist in their own parties and how little authority they grant them.

¶ 06 As a political party, the National People’s Power should be proud to have ushered in such a decisive historical change—but we do not stop here. More ordinary women must come forward. Already, 683 NPP women serve in local authorities—about one third of all women representatives—many elected by winning their own wards, including women mayors and chairpersons. This is a decisive period for women’s political leadership and power; we should discuss it with the respect it deserves.

¶ 07 The Leader of the Opposition frequently speaks about the Women’s Commission. Yet what respect do his party’s MPs show to women—especially women in this House? Accountability is lacking. We believe the Women’s Commission should be independent.