Sri Lanka is a unitary multi-party semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament.
Starting from the 1950s, the party system was dominated by the social democratic Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the liberal conservative United National Party for decades. Recently, however, the influence of the two parties has diminished significantly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Sri Lanka a "flawed democracy" in 2022.[1]
Executive branch
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Ranil Wickremesinghe[note 1] | United National Party | 21 July 2022 |
| Prime Minister | Dinesh Gunawardena | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | 22 July 2022 |
The president, directly elected for a five-year term, is head of state, head of government, and commander in chief of the armed forces. The election occurs under the Sri Lankan form of the contingent vote. Responsible to Parliament for the exercise of duties under the constitution and laws, the president may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of Parliament with the concurrence of the Supreme Court.
The president appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers responsible to Parliament. The president's deputy is the prime minister, who leads the ruling party in Parliament. A parliamentary no-confidence vote requires dissolution of the cabinet and the appointment of a new one by the President.
Legislative branch
The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a five-year term, 196 members elected in multi-seat constituencies and 29 by proportional representation.
The primary modification is that the party that receives the largest number of valid votes in each constituency gains a unique "bonus seat" (see Hickman, 1999). The president may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and can dissolve Parliament at any time after one year from the General Elections (except in a few limited circumstances). The President can also dissolve Parliament before the completion of one year, if requested to do so by resolution signed by at least half the MPs. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws. Since its independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Political parties and elections
In August 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that presidential elections would be held in November 2005, resolving a long-running dispute on the length of President Kumaratunga's term. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was nominated the SLFP candidate and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the UNP candidate. The election was held on 17 November 2005, and Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected the 5th Executive President of Sri Lanka winning 50.3% of valid votes, compared to Ranil Wickremesinghe's 48.4%. Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as president on 19 November 2005. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was appointed the 22nd Prime Minister on 21 November 2005, to fill the post vacated by Mahinda Rajapaksa. He was previously Prime Minister from 2000 until 2001.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the 2015 presidential elections, ending his ten-year presidency. However, his successor, President Maithripala Sirisena, decided not to seek re-election in 2019.[3] This enabled the Rajapaksa family to regain power in the 2019 presidential elections. Mahinda Rajapaksa's younger brother and former wartime defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election, and was sworn in as the 7th Executive President of Sri Lanka.[4][5] The Rajapaksa's firm grip of power consolidated in the parliamentary elections held in August 2020. The family's political party Sri Lanka People's Front (known by its Sinhala initials SLPP) won a landslide victory and a clear majority in the parliament, and five members of the Rajapaksa family won a seat in the parliament. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa became the new prime minister.[6]
2019 presidential election
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gotabaya Rajapaksa | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | 6,924,255 | 52.25 | |
| Sajith Premadasa | New Democratic Front | 5,564,239 | 41.99 | |
| Anura Kumara Dissanayake | National People's Power | 418,553 | 3.16 | |
| Mahesh Senanayake | National People's Party | 49,655 | 0.37 | |
| M. L. A. M. Hizbullah | Independent | 38,814 | 0.29 | |
| Ariyawansa Dissanayake | Democratic United National Front | 34,537 | 0.26 | |
| Ajantha Perera | Socialist Party of Sri Lanka | 27,572 | 0.21 | |
| Rohan Pallewatte | National Development Front | 25,173 | 0.19 | |
| Siripala Amarasinghe | Independent | 15,285 | 0.12 | |
| Milroy Fernando | Independent | 13,641 | 0.10 | |
| M. K. Shivajilingam | Independent | 12,256 | 0.09 | |
| Battaramulle Seelarathana | Jana Setha Peramuna | 11,879 | 0.09 | |
| Ajantha de Zoysa | Ruhunu Janatha Peramuna | 11,705 | 0.09 | |
| Anuruddha Polgampola | Independent | 10,219 | 0.08 | |
| Namal Rajapaksa | National Unity Alliance | 9,497 | 0.07 | |
| Jayantha Ketagoda | Independent | 9,467 | 0.07 | |
| Duminda Nagamuwa | Frontline Socialist Party | 8,219 | 0.06 | |
| Aparekke Punnananda | Independent | 7,611 | 0.06 | |
| Subramanium Gunaratnam | Our National Front | 7,333 | 0.06 | |
| A. S. P. Liyanage | Sri Lanka Labour Party | 6,447 | 0.05 | |
| Piyasiri Wijenayake | Independent | 4,636 | 0.03 | |
| Aruna de Zoysa | Democratic National Movement | 4,218 | 0.03 | |
| Rajiva Wijesinha | Independent | 4,146 | 0.03 | |
| Illiyas Idroos Mohamed | Independent | 3,987 | 0.03 | |
| Siritunga Jayasuriya | United Socialist Party | 3,944 | 0.03 | |
| Sarath Keerthirathna | Independent | 3,599 | 0.03 | |
| Sarath Manamendra | New Sinhala Heritage | 3,380 | 0.03 | |
| Pani Wijesiriwardene | Socialist Equality Party | 3,014 | 0.02 | |
| Ashoka Wadigamangawa | Independent | 2,924 | 0.02 | |
| A. H. M. Alavi | Independent | 2,903 | 0.02 | |
| Saman Perera | Our Power of People Party | 2,368 | 0.02 | |
| Priyantha Edirisinghe | Okkoma Wesiyo Okkoma Rajawaru Sanwidhanaya | 2,139 | 0.02 | |
| Samaraweera Weerawanni | Independent | 2,067 | 0.02 | |
| Bedde Gamage Nandimithra | Nava Sama Samaja Party | 1,841 | 0.01 | |
| Samansiri Herath | Independent | 976 | 0.01 | |
| Total | 13,252,499 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 13,252,499 | 98.99 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 135,452 | 1.01 | ||
| Total votes | 13,387,951 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 15,992,096 | 83.72 | ||
| Source: Election Commission | ||||
2020 parliamentary election
| Alliances and parties | Votes | % | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | National | Total | |||||
| 6,853,690 | 59.09% | 128 | 17 | 145 | |||
| 2,771,980 | 23.90% | 47 | 7 | 54 | |||
| 327,168 | 2.82% | 9 | 1 | 10 | |||
| 445,958 | 3.84% | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 67,766 | 0.58% | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Eelam People's Democratic Party | 61,464 | 0.53% | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| United National Party (Ranil wing) | 249,435 | 2.15% | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
Our Power of People's Party | 67,758 | 0.58% | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal | 67,692 | 0.58% | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Sri Lanka Freedom Party[iv] | 66,579 | 0.57% | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Muslim National Alliance | 55,981 | 0.48% | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 51,301 | 0.44% | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| All Ceylon Makkal Congress[vi] | 43,319 | 0.37% | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| National Congress[i] | 39,272 | 0.34% | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Sri Lanka Muslim Congress[vii] | 34,428 | 0.30% | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Independents | 223,622 | 1.93% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| United Peace Alliance | 31,054 | 0.27% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| All Lanka Tamil Mahasabha | 30,031 | 0.26% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| National Development Front | 14,686 | 0.13% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Frontline Socialist Party | 14,522 | 0.13% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Social Democratic Party of Tamils | 11,464 | 0.10% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Tamil United Liberation Front | 9,855 | 0.08% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Socialist Party of Sri Lanka | 9,368 | 0.08% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| People's Welfare Front | 7,361 | 0.06% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sinhalese National Front | 5,056 | 0.04% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| New Democratic Front | 4,883 | 0.04% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| United Left Front | 4,879 | 0.04% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Liberal Party of Sri Lanka | 4,345 | 0.04% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| National People's Party | 3,813 | 0.03% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Democratic United National Front | 3,611 | 0.03% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| National Democratic Front | 3,488 | 0.03% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sri Lanka Labour Party | 3,134 | 0.03% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Democratic Left Front | 2,964 | 0.03% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| New Sinhala Heritage | 1,397 | 0.01% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| United Socialist Party | 1,189 | 0.01% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Motherland People's Party | 1,087 | 0.01% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Eelavar Democratic Front | 1,035 | 0.01% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Socialist Equality Party | 780 | 0.01% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Lanka Sama Samaja Party[iii] | 737 | 0.01% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| All Are Citizens All Are Kings Organization | 632 | 0.01% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Democratic Unity Alliance | 145 | 0.00% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Valid Votes | 11,598,929 | 100.00% | 196 | 29 | 225 | ||
| Rejected Votes | 744,373 | 6.03% | |||||
| Total Polled | 12,343,302 | 75.89% | |||||
| Registered Electors | 16,263,885 | ||||||
Footnotes: | |||||||
Administrative divisions
Local government is divided into two parallel structures, the civil service, which dates to colonial times, and the provincial councils, which were established in 1987.
Civil Service Structure
The country is divided into 25 districts, each of which has a district secretary (the GA, or Government Agent) who is appointed. Each district comprises 5–16 divisions, each with a DS, or divisional secretary, again, appointed. At a village level Grama Niladari (Village Officers), Samurdhi Niladari (Development Officers) and agriculture extension officers work for the DSs.
Provincial Council structure
Under the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord of July 1987—and the resulting 13th amendment to the constitution—the Government of Sri Lanka agreed to devolve some authority to the provinces. Provincial councils are directly elected for 5-year terms. The leader of the council majority serves as the province's Chief Minister with a board of ministers; a provincial governor is appointed by the president.
The Provincial Councils have full statute making power with respect to the Provincial Council List, and shared statute making power respect to the Concurrent List. While all matters set out in the Reserved List are under the central government.
Local government structure
Below the provincial level are elected Municipal Councils and Urban Councils, responsible for municipalities and cities respectively, and below this level Pradeshiya Sabhas (village councils), again elected. There are 24 Municipal Councils, 41 Urban Councils and 276 Pradeshiya Sabhas.
Judicial branch
Sri Lanka's judiciary consists of a Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, and a number of subordinate courts. Sri Lanka's legal system reflects diverse cultural influences. Criminal law is fundamentally British. Basic civil law is Roman-Dutch, but laws pertaining to marriage, divorce, and inheritance are communal, known as respectively as Kandyan,Thesavalamai (Jaffna Tamil) and Muslim (Roman-Dutch law applies to Low-country Sinhalese, Estate Tamils and others).
- Courts of law
- Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
- Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka
- High Court of Sri Lanka
- District Courts
- Magistrate's Courts
- Primary Courts
Foreign relations of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka generally follows a non-aligned foreign policy but has been seeking closer relations with the United States since December 1977. It participates in multilateral diplomacy, particularly at the United Nations, where it seeks to promote sovereignty, independence, and development in the developing world. Sri Lanka was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). It also is a member of the Commonwealth, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, and the Colombo Plan. Sri Lanka continues its active participation in the NAM, while also stressing the importance it places on regionalism by playing a strong role in SAARC.
Sri Lanka is member of the IAEA, IBRD, ADB, C, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO.І
The growing interest of other countries in making their claims to Sri Lanka's strategic assets has been generating heated discussion among national and international circles. Worth noting, China, India and Japan's involvement in Sri Lankan seaport developments is a direct consequence of the ongoing tussle among these three nations to get a firm foothold in this very strategically located island state of Sri Lanka.[10]
Political pressure groups
Civil society participation in decision-making and opinion-shaping is very poor in Sri Lanka. Professionals, civil society groups, media etc. do not play a significant role in Sri Lankan politics and, as a result, many aspects of the lives of ordinary citizens are politicized. In addition, the vacuum created by the silence and inactivity of civil society has let in radical groups such as the ethnic/religion-based groups, Sri Lanka trade unions; and NGOs have taken lead roles as political pressure groups.
See also
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
- Robert C. Oberst. "Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka", Publius, Vol. 18, No. 3, The State of American Federalism, 1987 (Summer, 1988), pp. 175–193
External links
