Sri Lanka President reaffirms commitment to gender equality and safeguarding Buddhism

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has affirmed that all agreements with international women’s organizations mandate that women must have the same rights as men.

He emphasized that the judiciary, executive, legislature, or any other institution cannot interfere with these activities.

The President reiterated that the government’s goal is to ensure equal rights for women in the country and stressed his commitment to this objective.

Furthermore, President Wickremesinghe made it clear that the government will not accept any decisions that could harm the existence of Buddhism.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe made these remarks during his address yesterday (June 18) at the Sirikotha Party Headquarters, where letters of appointment were distributed to zonal organizers appointed under the United National Party’s (UNP) new reorganization drive.

Addressing the gathering, the President stated:

“I am pleased to be part of today’s event marking the second phase of appointing new zonal organizers under the UNP’s reorganization drive.

Today in Parliament, extensive discussions took place on the gender equality bill. However, based on the Supreme Court order, women do not have the right to equality.

I emphasized in Parliament that denying this right to women, who constitute the majority of the country’s population, could be viewed as a decision that goes against both Parliament and the Constitution of our nation.

Our goal is to ensure that women enjoy equal rights to men, as stipulated in all agreements with international women’s organizations.

The judiciary, executive, legislature, or any other institution cannot hinder the realization of this objective.

We are fully dedicated to achieving this goal, and I emphasized this commitment in Parliament today to dispel any concerns.

Moreover, I emphasized that we cannot accept any decision that may undermine the protection of Buddhism, and efforts are currently underway to address this issue.”