Oct 30, Colombo: The Deputy Leader of Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) Sajith Premadasa says the government has ignored the youth and women in the country when preparing legislation for the Provincial Council Elections Amendment Bill.

Premadasa told a news conference today that the Provincial Council Elections Amendment Bill that was presented to parliament had not included the youth and women.

Explaining further, the Deputy Leader said the government had violated the rights of the youth by abolishing the mandatory 40 percent youth representation in nominations lists for provincial council elections.

He noted that the clause was previously included in the Bill.

According to Premadasa, two amendments proposed by him for the bill calling for a compulsory 25 percent representation for youth and women has been changed to say that it was not mandatory.

The youth and women would not have been ignored if the government was sincere about addressing the people's needs, Premadasa said.