State Minister of Children's Affairs Rosy Senanayake called for an increased quota of seats for women in parliament, adding that women should be given 25 percent of parliamentary seats.

Releasing a statement a short while ago, Senanayake asked for the allocation of 25 percent of nominations for all the First Past the Post seats for women. Senanayake also said that the first name on the District List should be that of a woman and that every 3rd appointee from the national list should be a woman.

Representation of women in political institutions in Sri Lanka has been minimal in the 67 years since independence and since the granting of universal franchise in 1931, Senanayake said.

She added that the current rates of representation for women are also very low, with 5.8% in Parliament (13 of 225 seats), 4.1 in Provincial Councils and 1.9% in Local Government bodies. These are the lowest in South Asia, Senanayake also said.

Currently, several countries have a quota in place in parliament including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Rwanda, East Timor and France, the State Minister added.