Kavinda Jayawardena urges European support for political party resilience

Sri Lankan Member of Parliament Dr. Kavinda Jayawardena has called for increased support from European partners to strengthen political party institutions and internal democracy. Speaking at an international roundtable in Brussels organized by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the European Network of Political Foundations, Jayawardena addressed the challenges of protecting smaller democracies from malign influence.

Jayawardena identified three priority areas for building political resilience: developing robust party institutions that do not rely solely on individual leaders, ensuring transparency in party financing, and countering misleading content spread via social media and AI. He specifically noted the need for improved fact-checking capabilities and digital literacy in local languages, such as Sinhala and Tamil, where current capacities are limited.

Emphasizing Sri Lanka’s strategic position in the Indian Ocean, Jayawardena argued that protecting ethnic and religious diversity is essential to preventing community division. He concluded that building resilient democracies in Europe requires a collaborative effort to support democratic stability in other regions, including the Indian Ocean.