WFD and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK (CPA UK) organised a learning exchange between UK MPs and Sri Lankan counterparts (22 to 25 July 2025) to discuss key issues, including budget and financial oversight, the role of parliamentary committees, pre and post-legislative scrutiny, and outreach and public engagement. 

Yasmin Qureshi, Member of the UK Parliament and Chair of WFD’s Board of Governors emphasised the importance of partnership building between Sri Lanka and the UK.  

“Democracy and rule of law are being challenged. In this context, visits like this are very important to build relationships, share information, and learn from each other,” she said. 

The cross-party delegation of UK parliamentarians and clerks participated in workshops alongside members of the Sri Lankan Parliament and engaged with local stakeholders including political party members and civil society representatives.  

As well as Yasmin Qureshi MP, the delegation involved other members of the UK Parliament including Jamie Stone MP,  Chair of the Petitions Committee, Paulette Hamilton MP,  Acting Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Andrew Snowden MP,  Opposition Assistant Whip and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Sri Lanka, Jonathan Hingston, Committee Specialist, International Development Select Committee, UK House of Commons, and Anikka Weerasinghe, Director of Select Committee Communications and Engagement, UK House of Commons. 

The visit aimed to build and strengthen relationships and partnerships between the UK and Sri Lankan parliaments. It was a significant step in WFD’s continued support to enhance the Sri Lankan Parliament’s public finance and sectoral oversight mechanisms, open parliament caucus, and women parliamentarian’s caucus.   

The delegation engaged with members of the Sri Lankan Parliament, including taking part in knowledge-sharing sessions for newly elected MPs. The delegation met with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Harini Amarasuriya to discuss the way forward in UK-Sri Lanka partnership.  

The delegation also held talks with the Opposition Leader, Sajith Premadasa, the Speaker, Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, and the Secretary General of the Parliament, Kushani Rohanadheera, as well as members of the Coalition for Inclusive Impact (CII). 

Women’s political participation  

One of the challenges discussed during the visit was increasing women’s political participation and addressing violence against women in Sri Lanka.  

Savithri Paulraj, Minister of Women and Child Affairs and Chair of the Women’s Caucus, outlined two key priorities for the Caucus:  

• Increasing women’s representation in decision-making bodies at provincial and local levels;
• Increasing women’s labour force participation and supporting women’s entrepreneurship.  

The Caucus also highlighted the sexual and gender-based violence faced by women, especially those in politics, perpetuated by media and social media.  

Minister Paulraj reiterated that a National Women’s Commission – an independent body formed by the Constitutional Council to find solutions to issues faced by women – would be a vital step in the right direction. 

Speaking of WFD’s support to both the current and previous parliaments, Sanje Vignaraja, WFD’s Country Director for Sri Lanka, pointed to WFD’s regional women’s political leadership programme that works across the ASEAN region to address violence against women in politics, as a source of potential constructive collaboration. 

“As a region that faces similar challenges, there is great potential for us to learn from each other,” he said.  

Open access and collaboration among political actors, civil society, and media  

UK MPs also learned about the role the Coalition for Inclusive Impact has played in supporting the Parliament of Sri Lanka in its economic and social reforms through an inclusive approach to policymaking.  

The coalition represents the first instance in Sri Lanka of MPs, political party members, civil society, and media being brought together to work collaboratively on policy and lawmaking. It was formed to build and strengthen long term partnerships among the group of diverse stakeholders to engage with key policymakers as well as improve access between parliamentarians and other key stakeholders.  

Meanwhile, improving access to parliament was the theme of discussions with Sri Lanka’s Open Parliament Caucus. Chairing the meeting, Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, Member of Parliament, noted the importance of engaging civil society actors and the public to make the open government partnership meaningful.  

“Particularly after the economic and political crisis of 2022, the public rejected the parliament; there was a sentiment that we should get rid of all MPs. In such a context, it was important for the public to understand the role of the parliament,” he said.  

Photo credit: Parliament of Sri Lanka