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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. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
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Politics of Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Polity type | Unitary multi-party semi-presidential representative democratic republic |
| Constitution | Constitution of Sri Lanka |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | Parliament |
| Type | Unicameral |
| Meeting place | Sri Lanka Parliament |
| Presiding officer | Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of state | |
| Title | President |
| Currently | Anura Kumara Dissanayaka |
| Appointer | Direct election |
| Head of government | |
| Title | Prime Minister |
| Currently | Harini Amarasuriya |
| Appointer | President |
| Cabinet | |
| Name | Cabinet of Sri Lanka |
| Current cabinet | Dissanayake cabinet |
| Leader | President |
| Appointer | President |
| Ministries | 29 |
| Judicial branch | |
| Name | Judiciary |
| Supreme Court | |
| Chief judge | Jayantha Jayasuriya |
Starting from the early 1950s, the two main parties of Sri Lanka were the social democratic Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the liberal conservative United National Party for several decades. Recently, however, the influence of the two parties has diminished significantly; currently, the two main parties are the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, both of which split from one of the two previous parties, respectively. Other notable parties include the Tamil National Alliance, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.
The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Sri Lanka a "flawed democracy" in 2022.[1][needs update]
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Anura Kumara Dissanayake | National People's Power | 23 September 2024 |
| Prime Minister | Harini Amarasuriya | National People's Power | 24 September 2024 |
The president, directly elected for a five-year term, is the 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.
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 once a year has passed since the last 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 a 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.
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.[2] 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.[3][4] The Rajapaksa's firm grip of power consolidated in the parliamentary elections held in August 2020. The family's political party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (known by its 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.[5]
On 23 September 2024, Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka's new president after winning the presidential election as a left-wing candidate.[6]
2024 presidential election
| Candidate | Party | First preference | Total votes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Anura Kumara Dissanayake | National People's Power | 5,634,915 | 42.31 | 5,740,179 | 55.89 | |
| Sajith Premadasa | Samagi Jana Balawegaya | 4,363,035 | 32.76 | 4,530,902 | 44.11 | |
| Ranil Wickremesinghe | Independent[lower-alpha 1] | 2,299,767 | 17.27 | |||
| Namal Rajapaksa | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | 342,781 | 2.57 | |||
| P. Ariyanethiran | Independent | 226,343 | 1.70 | |||
| Dilith Jayaweera | Communist Party of Sri Lanka | 122,396 | 0.92 | |||
| K. K. Piyadasa | Independent | 47,543 | 0.36 | |||
| D. M. Bandaranayake | Independent | 30,660 | 0.23 | |||
| Sarath Fonseka | Independent | 22,407 | 0.17 | |||
| Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe | National Democratic Front | 21,306 | 0.16 | |||
| Anuruddha Polgampola | Independent | 15,411 | 0.12 | |||
| Sarath Keerthirathne | Independent | 15,187 | 0.11 | |||
| K. R. Krishan | Arunalu People's Front | 13,595 | 0.10 | |||
| Suranjeewa Anoj de Silva | Democratic United National Front | 12,898 | 0.10 | |||
| Priyantha Wickremesinghe | Nava Sama Samaja Party | 12,760 | 0.10 | |||
| Namal Rajapaksha | Samabima Party | 12,700 | 0.10 | |||
| Akmeemana Dayarathana Thero | Independent | 11,536 | 0.09 | |||
| Nuwan Bopege | Socialist People's Forum | 11,191 | 0.08 | |||
| Ajantha de Zoyza | Ruhunu People's Party | 10,548 | 0.08 | |||
| Victor Anthony Perera | Independent | 10,374 | 0.08 | |||
| Siripala Amarasinghe | Independent | 9,035 | 0.07 | |||
| Siritunga Jayasuriya | United Socialist Party | 8,954 | 0.07 | |||
| Battaramulle Seelarathana Thero | People's Welfare Front | 6,839 | 0.05 | |||
| Abubakar Mohamed Infaz | Democratic Unity Alliance | 6,531 | 0.05 | |||
| Pemasiri Manage | Independent | 5,822 | 0.04 | |||
| Mahinda Dewage | Socialist Party of Sri Lanka | 5,338 | 0.04 | |||
| Keerthi Wickremeratne | Our People's Power Party | 4,676 | 0.04 | |||
| Pani Wijesiriwardena | Socialist Equality Party | 4,410 | 0.03 | |||
| Oshala Herath | New Independent Front | 4,253 | 0.03 | |||
| Roshan Ranasinghe | Independent | 4,205 | 0.03 | |||
| P. W. S. K. Bandaranayake | National Development Front | 4,070 | 0.03 | |||
| Ananda Kularatne | Independent | 4,013 | 0.03 | |||
| Lalith de Silva | United National Freedom Front | 3,004 | 0.02 | |||
| Sidney Jayarathna | Independent | 2,799 | 0.02 | |||
| Janaka Ratnayake | United Lanka People's Party | 2,405 | 0.02 | |||
| M. Thilakarajah | Independent | 2,138 | 0.02 | |||
| Sarath Manamendra | New Sinhala Heritage | 1,911 | 0.01 | |||
| A. S. P. Liyanage | Sri Lanka Labour Party | 1,860 | 0.01 | |||
| Total | 13,319,616 | 100.00 | 10,271,081 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 13,319,616 | 97.80 | 10,271,081 | 75.41 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 300,300 | 2.20 | 3,348,835 | 24.59 | ||
| Total votes | 13,619,916 | 100.00 | 13,619,916 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 17,140,354 | 79.46 | 17,140,354 | 79.46 | ||
| Source: Election Commission of Sri Lanka[7][8][9][10] | ||||||
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[lower-roman 5] | 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[lower-roman 6] | 43,319 | 0.37% | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| National Congress[lower-roman 2] | 39,272 | 0.34% | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Sri Lanka Muslim Congress[lower-roman 7] | 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[lower-roman 4] | 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 local government is divided into two parallel structures, the civil service, which dates back to colonial times, and the provincial councils, established in 1987.
Civil Service structure
The country is divided into 25 districts, each of which has a district secretary (the government agent or GA) who is appointed. Each district has 5–16 divisions, each with a divisional secretary who is also appointed. At a village level, Grama Niladari (Village Officers), Samurdhi Niladari (Development Officers) and agriculture extension officers all work for their respective divisional secretaries.
Provincial Council structure
Under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord signed in 1987 and the subsequent 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the Government of Sri Lanka agreed to devolve some authority to the provinces. Provincial councils are directly elected for five-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.
Despite the existence of the 13th amendment, provincial council elections have not been held since 2014.
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.
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 is reflective of the country's 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
Sri Lanka generally follows a non-aligned foreign policy but has been seeking closer relations with the United States since 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, and WTrO.
The growing interest of other countries in making their claims to Sri Lanka's strategic assets has been generating heated discussion both within national and international circles. China, India and Japan's involvement in Sri Lankan seaport developments is a direct consequence of the ongoing tussle among the three nations to establish a firm foothold in the strategically located island state.[14]
Civil society participation in decision-making and opinion-shaping in Sri Lanka is very poor. Professionals, civil society groups, and media rarely play significant roles 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 led to radical groups such as ethnic/religious-based groups, trade unions and NGOs assuming lead roles as political pressure groups.
- Member of the United National Party officially running as independent, endorsed by the UNP and SLPP breakaway faction
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