The Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna
Hon. Rohini Kumari Wijerathna questioned the resignation of the Chairperson of the National Women’s Commission, citing her stated concerns over lack of operational independence, absence of budgetary allocations, and administrative interference. She criticised the Government for failing to support the Commission despite its stated commitments to women, and urged that independent commissions be allowed to function without interference.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 I will conclude, Hon. Presiding Member.
¶ 02 Why did the Chairperson resign? She cited lack of operational independence, non-allocation of budgetary provisions, and administrative interference harming the Commission’s self-governance. She had also requested a meeting with the Presidential Secretariat to discuss issues, which was not granted. This Government cannot nourish the institution we built. Before elections, you said “100 for women,” adopted themes like “We stand together with women,” yet what happened to the National Women’s Commission we created for women facing injustice? The Chairperson you appointed has resigned. I tell the Government: these are independent commissions; do not interfere. Only if they can function independently will the National Women’s Commission deliver results. Allow that, and I conclude.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 3 February 2026 ·No. 23252 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 3 February 2026. No. 23252. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/8826