Sri Lanka’s election sees surge in female candidates, but can it break patriarchal norms?
Source: South China Morning Post
A notable number of women are contesting Sri Lanka’s general elections on Thursday, signalling a potential shift in the nation’s male-dominated political landscape, but analysts warn simply having more female candidates is not enough to transform the country’s leadership culture.
The rise in female candidates come as Sri Lankans prepare to elect the first parliament under the country’s inaugural leftist government, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power (NPP) party.
Dissanayake’s election in September, the first presidential vote after the country’s debilitating economic crisis in 2022, marked a pivotal moment in Sri Lanka’s political history. His rise ushered in a caretaker government and the appointment of Harini Amarasuriya as the nation’s third female prime minister.
Sri Lanka has a notable legacy of female leadership. In 1960, when the country was known as Ceylon, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected the world’s first woman prime minister. She took office after the assassination of her husband, then-Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.
Read here the full article published by South China Morning Post on 13 November 2024.
Image by South China Morning Post
A notable number of women are contesting Sri Lanka’s general elections on Thursday, signalling a potential shift in the nation’s male-dominated political landscape, but analysts warn simply having more female candidates is not enough to transform the country’s leadership culture.
The rise in female candidates come as Sri Lankans prepare to elect the first parliament under the country’s inaugural leftist government, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power (NPP) party.
Dissanayake’s election in September, the first presidential vote after the country’s debilitating economic crisis in 2022, marked a pivotal moment in Sri Lanka’s political history. His rise ushered in a caretaker government and the appointment of Harini Amarasuriya as the nation’s third female prime minister.
Sri Lanka has a notable legacy of female leadership. In 1960, when the country was known as Ceylon, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected the world’s first woman prime minister. She took office after the assassination of her husband, then-Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.
Read here the full article published by South China Morning Post on 13 November 2024.
Image by South China Morning Post