Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is demanding an assurance that minorities will be adequately represented through the new electoral system, its General Secretary Hasan Ali told Asian Mirror.

He said that the government was building up a wrong impression that the minority parties are against the 20th Amendment. He totally rejected this notion and said that the SLMC only asks for proper representation.

Ali pointed out that the Muslim population in the country at present is nearly 10 percent. Therefore, this percentage should be represented in parliament, he argued. If the parliament should have 237 seats, the Muslim community should be assured of being able to elect 23 MPs, he said. However, the suggested system will not ensure this, Ali argued.

He said that the SLMC is not concerned about the number of MPs in parliament and added that its main concern was ensuring a fair representation for minorities.

This is why the SLMC also demanded for a double ballot where a voter will be able to cast his vote for a candidate and a party, Ali said. He pointed out that it is a system currently used by many democratic countries.