Cabinet to make final decision on 20A next week

Friday, 29 May 2015 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

15 topics were proposed by President Sirisena
Number of seats to be increased to 255
Cut-off point to be reduced from 5% to 1.5% or 1%
Govt. to increase female participation in Parliament

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Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne

By Charumini de Silva

The Government yesterday said that female representation at the next general election would be increased from 5% to 10%, as suggested in the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said that it was proposed to include 5-10% female candidates in polling divisions, while including 1 out of 3 female candidates at the additional district level.

He also said that more attention would be given to appointing female parliamentarians from the national list.

“As a result of the increase in female representation, the Parliament will be a very pleasant place and more MPs will attend,” he quipped.

Speaking more about the 20th Amendment, Senaratne said that there were 15 topics suggested in the Cabinet paper proposed by President Maithripala Sirisena.

“During the discussions the focus was given mainly to the number of seats in Parliament,” he added.

He said that the number of seats in Parliament would be increased from 225 to 255 and explained that it was not done by any request made by any particular party, but to accommodate the minority and smaller parties.

Justifying the move, Senaratne said that it was to have more representation and different views in Parliament.

He pointed out that there were 165 polling divisions while the balance was for the National List and the PRC systems in the districts.

Senaratne also asserted that though it would not be a solid amount it would be a flexible amount for the national list as it depended on the number of PRCs.

It was suggested to reduce the cut-off point from 5% to 1.5% or 1%, he said.

“The Cabinet also discussed about the two ballot paper systems and also about the delimitation commission. After the proposals were made on Wednesday it was decided to meet again next week and finalise the guidelines to reach a final decision about 20A,” he added.

The President, Prime Minister, interested parties in the Cabinet and a few minority party leaders will be present at this meeting.

Pic by Shehan Gunasekara