Politics of Sri Lanka

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

Main office-holders

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

For other political parties, see List of political parties in Sri Lanka. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Sri Lanka.

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

Summary of the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election^[7][8][9]

Alliances and parties		Votes	%	Seats
				District	National	Total
	Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance^[v] Ceylon Workers' Congress Mahajana Eksath Peramuna National Congress^[i] National Freedom Front Pivithuru Hela Urumaya Socialist Alliance Communist Party of Sri Lanka Democratic Left Front^[ii] Lanka Sama Samaja Party^[iii] National Liberation People's Party Sri Lanka People's Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party^[iv] Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	6,853,690	59.09%	128	17	145
	Samagi Jana Balawegaya All Ceylon Makkal Congress^[vi] Jathika Hela Urumaya Sri Lanka Muslim Congress^[vii] Tamil Progressive Alliance National Union of Workers United Progressive Alliance Democratic People's Front Up-Country People's Front United National Party (Sajith wing)	2,771,980	23.90%	47	7	54
	Tamil National Alliance^[viii] Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization	327,168	2.82%	9	1	10
	National People's Power Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna	445,958	3.84%	2	1	3
	Tamil National People's Front^[ix] All Ceylon Tamil Congress	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 Bodu Bala Sena	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
	Tamil People's National Alliance Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front Eelam Tamil Self Rule Party Tamil National Party Tamil People's Council	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: The NC contested separately in two districts (Ampara and Polonnaruwa) and with the SLPFA in other districts. The DLF contested separately in two districts (Jaffna and Vanni) and with the SLPFA in other districts. The LSSP contested separately in one district (Jaffna) and with the SLPFA in other districts. The SLFP contested separately in three districts (Jaffna, Kalutara and Nuwara Eliya) and with the SLPFA in other districts. The SLPFA contested under the name and symbol of SLPP. The ACMC contested separately in one district (Ampara) and with the SJB in other districts. The SLMC contested separately in one district (Batticaloa) and with the SJB in other districts. The TNA contested under the name and symbol of ITAK. The TNPF contested under the name and symbol of ACTC.

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

Main article: Local government in Sri Lanka

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

Main article: 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

• List of rulers of Ceylon
• List of presidents of Sri Lanka
• List of prime ministers of Sri Lanka
• Leftist parties in Sri Lanka

Notes

1. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as the Acting President on 14 July 2022 following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa^[2]

References

1. "Democracy Index 2022: Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
2. "PM Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as Sri Lanka's interim president". Al Jazeera. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
3. "President Maithripala Sirisena to not contest Sri Lanka polls". www.aljazeera.com.
4. "Sri Lanka's ruling party calls an election, hoping for a landslide". The Economist. 5 March 2020.
5. Bastians, Dharisha; Schultz, Kai (17 November 2019). "Gotabaya Rajapaksa Wins Sri Lanka Presidential Election". The New York Times.
6. "Mahinda Rajapaksa sworn in as Sri Lanka's PM".
7. "2020 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Elections". Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka: Election Commission of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
8. "Parliamentary Election 2020". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
9. "Official Election Results Parliamentary Election - 2020 - Sri Lanka". news.lk. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Department of Government Information. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
10. Weerakoon, Dushni (June 20, 2019). "Rivals Competing over Sri Lanka's Seaports". OpedColumn.News.Blog.

Sources

• Hickman, J. 1999. "Explaining the Two-Party System in Sri Lanka's National Assembly." Contemporary South Asia, Volume 8, Number 1 (March), pp. 29–40 (A detailed description of the effects of the bonus seat provision).
• James Jupp, Sri Lanka: Third World Democracy, London: Frank Cass and Company, Limited, 1978.

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

• Sri Lanka Government at Curlie
• Office of the Governor – Uva / ඌව පලාත් ආණ්ඩුකාරවර කාර්යාලය

 

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