Sri Lanka has more women voters than men but no female presidential candidates

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Women make up more than half of the voters in Sri Lanka, but not a single one will be on the ballot in Saturday’s presidential election.

The island nation of more than 22 million people is voting for a president to take its economy forward after it went through an unprecedented financial crisis two years ago that led to the ouster of its head of government. The election will allow more than 17 million eligible voters to choose from a record 38 candidates. But women — who account for nearly 9 million voters — will have no gender representation.

“I feel a little disappointed,” said first-time voter Sandami Nimesha.

Nimesha, a 20-year-old information technology student, said even though presidents have an obligation to offer solutions to the problems faced by the public regardless of their gender, a woman president “would give more attention to serve the female voters” and focus on issues that affect them.

“I think it’s better if there is a female candidate,” she said.

Saturday’s election is seen as a three-way contest between current President Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and parliamentarian Anura Dissanayake, who is leader of a Marxist-led coalition that has gained popularity. Results of the election are expected Sunday.

Sri Lanka’s politics have mostly been dominated by men since the island nation introduced universal suffrage in 1931. It’s a trend seen in most countries globally — in 2023, a Pew Research Center analysis found only 13 of the 193 member states of the United Nations had women as the head of government.

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