Politics of Sri Lanka takes place in a framework of a presidential
representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is
both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.
Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested
in both the government and parliament. For decades, the party system has been
dominated by the socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the conservative
United National Party. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the
legislature. The Politics of Sri Lanka reflect the historical and political
differences between the three main ethnic groups, the majority Sinhala and
the minorities Tamils and Muslims, who are concentrated in the north and east
of the island. Executive branch
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
president may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve
Parliament. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws.
The primary modification is that the party that receives the largest number
of valid votes in each constituency gains a unique "bonus seat". The
president may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve
Parliament any time after it has served for one year. 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. Mahinda
Rajapaksa was nominated the SLFP candidate and former Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe UNP candidate. The Election was held on November 17, 2005,
and Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected the fifth Executive President of Sri Lanka
with a 50.29% of valid votes, compared to Ranil Wickremesinghe's 48.43%.
Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as President on November 19, 2005. Ratnasiri
Wickremanayake was appointed the 22nd Prime Minister on November 21, 2005, to
fill the post vacated by Mahinda Rajapaksa. He was previously Prime
Minister in 2000. 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 who is appointed. Each district comprises 5–16 divisions, each
with a DS, or divisional secretary, again, appointed. At a village level
Grama Niladari, Samurdhi Niladari 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, again elected. There are: 18 Municipal Councils: Sri
Jayawardanapura Kotte, Kaduwela, Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna, Galle, Matara,
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Anuradhapura, Gampaha, Moratuwa, Ratnapura,
Kurunegala, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Batticaloa, Kalmune, Negombo. 42 Urban
Councils: 270 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
and Muslim. 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. It also is a member of the
Commonwealth, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation,
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,
OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO. І 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, Trade Unions; and NGOs have
taken lead roles as political pressure groups.
See also Sri Lanka
List of rulers of Ceylon List of Presidents of Sri Lanka
List of Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka leftist parties
Notes References
Sources External links
Sri Lanka Government at DMOZ Office of the Governor - Uva / ඌව පලාත්
ආණ්ඩුකාරවර කාර්යාලය