In 2017, the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act No. 16 was passed in parliament. The first election in which the mandatory women’s electoral quota of 25% in local government (LG) was implemented was the 2018 LG elections. The quota system is an example of affirmative action policy to increase the representation of women in politics. Prior to the Amendment, women’s participation in LG elections in Sri Lanka were below 2%, despite women forming around 51% of the national population. Low numbers of women nominations at elections were due to several reasons, foremost among which are patriarchal political party culture and election campaign financing models.

Affirmative actions such as quota systems also need to be accompanied with more substantial and sustainable structural reforms. The proposed study aims to contextualize the challenges and achievements faced in the implementation of the LG women’s electoral quota so far, and what scope for improvement is there in the backdrop of the current government’s governance-oriented reforms process. The local government, as a level of analytical inquiry, provides a distinct vantage point, with the reasoning that the gendered power dynamics at this decentralized level have relatively lesser-stakes than at the national government level.

The study will have 3 main components:

1. Contextualizing affirmative action for women in the present context of a growing political consensus among key and established players in the political party system and public pressure on the need to reduce the number of elected political representatives. This would involve understanding the ways in which various contestations and compromises shaped the quota system in its conceptualisation and implementation.
2. Documenting and analysing the challenges linked to the 25% women’s quota with regard to its implementation, including setting quotas, selection criteria, ward vs ‘list’ elections in terms of numerical representation. It would also look at the challenges faced by elected female candidates to contribute substantively to strengthen democracy.
3. Documenting and analysing the progress and achievements gained through the women’s quota in elections, such as which institutions and stakeholders were responsible for these positive outcomes, and why.

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