On Sunday, 4 April, Pushpika de Silva was announced the winner of the Mrs. Sri Lanka 2020 pageant held at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre. However, just after she was crowned by former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa and Mayor of Colombo Rosy Senanayake, she was stripped of her crown on stage by reigning Mrs. World Caroline Jurie who claimed that de Silva is a divorcee and is therefore not qualified to be crowned, according to pageant rules, and proceeded to crown the first runner-up.
Since the incident, Mrs. Sri Lanka for Mrs. World National Director Chandimal Jayasinghe has stated that such an incident should not have happened and that the unanimous decision made by the Organising Committee and the judges cannot be reversed in this manner. He added that reigning Mrs. World Caroline Jurie has no moral right to do such a thing and does not condone her arrogant actions.
The incident has sparked much debate, and de Silva was re-crowned in a ceremony held at The Kingsbury, Colombo yesterday (6).
Considering the many sides to the story, we reached out to Miss Sri Lanka for Miss Universe in 2005 and industry constant Rozanne Diasz to share her thoughts on the matter considering her experience with the Sri Lankan pageant industry.
Diasz stated that personally she believes that if the National Director has stated that the rules have been followed through, then there need not be any conflict. She pointed out, however, that there was a question raised about the actions of Jurie and how much power she has in order to exercise such a decision in this scenario. “Because she is the reigning Mrs. World, would she have done the same in another country? Or does she simply have more power because this is Sri Lanka and she is Sri Lankan?”
She also stated that regardless of what has transpired following the initial confusion, the way things were handled could have been done far differently. “If new information had come to light, then there could have been a collective decision made prior to the final announcement,” Diasz said, pointing out that instead of humiliating another woman at a live event, Jurie could have reached out to the National Director and the jury and appealed that they reconsider and take into account this new information, following which a collective decision could have been announced.
She also pointed out that the reason why pageants are endorsed is in order to celebrate female talent and achievement, where it is a matter of showcasing skills, work, and dedication of women, and to appreciate them on a large platform. “It does not exist to discriminate against a woman on her marital status,” she said.
In any event, Diasz shared that when the time came for the national representative to take on the world stage, there are procedures in place to ensure they remain eligible to participate. Being a married woman or not could be a matter of time, and if it came to light that the winner’s marital status has been dissolved by the time she must compete globally, then it is common practice for her to gracefully step down after which the first runner-up would take her place. It is a general rule that if the winner of the crown is unable to carry out her duties, then the first runner-up will take on the role.
She said that things could have been done in a proper and mandated way, instead of the anarchy that transpired. While she herself has no bias towards either winner, the concern here remains that things were done in such a haphazard way and now we have eyes on our industry looking at it from the outside without much respect.
