Politics of Sri Lanka

Politics of Sri Lanka takes place in a framework of a semi-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.

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The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Sri Lanka a "flawed democracy" in 2019.[1]

Executive branch
Main office holders
Office Name Party Since
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna 18 November 2019
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna 21 November 2019

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 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
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. 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 50.3% of valid votes, compared to Ranil Wickremesinghe's 48.4%. 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 from 2000 until 2001 .

 Summary of the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election[2]
CandidatePartyVotes%
Gotabaya Rajapaksa Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna6,924,25552.25%
Sajith Premadasa New Democratic Front5,564,23941.99%
Anura Kumara Dissanayaka National Movement for People's Power418,5533.16%
Mahesh SenanayakeNational People's Party49,6550.37%
M. L. A. M. Hizbullah Independent38,8140.29%
Ariyawansa DissanayakeDemocratic United National Front34,5370.26%
Ajantha PereraSocialist Party of Sri Lanka27,5720.21%
Rohan PallewatteNational Development Front25,1730.19%
Siripala Amarasinghe Independent15,2850.12%
Milroy Fernando Independent13,6410.10%
M. K. Shivajilingam Independent12,2560.09%
Battaramulle SeelarathanaJana Setha Peramuna11,8790.09%
Ajantha de ZoysaRuhunu Janatha Peramuna11,7050.09%
Anuruddha Polgampola Independent10,2190.08%
Namal Rajapaksa National Unity Alliance9,4970.07%
Jayantha Ketagoda Independent9,4670.07%
Duminda Nagamuwa Frontline Socialist Party8,2190.06%
Aparekke Punnananda Independent7,6110.06%
Subramanium GunaratnamOur National Front7,3330.06%
A. S. P. LiyanageSri Lanka Labour Party6,4470.05%
Piyasiri Wijenayake Independent4,6360.04%
Aruna de ZoysaDemocratic National Movement4,2180.03%
Rajiva Wijesinha Independent4,1460.03%
Illiyas Idroos Mohamed Independent3,9870.03%
Siritunga Jayasuriya United Socialist Party3,9440.03%
Sarath Keerthirathna Independent3,5990.03%
Sarath ManamendraNew Sinhala Heritage3,3800.03%
Pani Wijesiriwardene Socialist Equality Party3,0140.02%
Ashoka Wadigamangawa Independent2,9240.02%
A. H. M. Alavi Independent2,9030.02%
Saman PereraOur Power of People Party2,3680.02%
Priyantha EdirisingheOkkoma Wesiyo Okkoma Rajawaru Sanwidhanaya2,1390.02%
Samaraweera Weerawanni Independent2,0670.02%
Bedde Gamage Nandimithra Nava Sama Samaja Party1,8410.01%
Samansiri Herath Independent9760.01%
Valid Votes13,252,499100.00%
Rejected Votes135,4521.01%
Total Polled13,387,95183.72%
Registered Electors15,992,096
Summary of the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election[3][4][5]
Alliances and partiesVotes%Seats
DistrictNationalTotal
  6,853,69059.09%12817145
  2,771,98023.90%47754
  327,1682.82%9110
  445,9583.84%213
  67,7660.58%112
 Eelam People's Democratic Party61,4640.53%202
 United National Party (Ranil wing)249,4352.15%011
67,7580.58%011
Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal67,6920.58%101
 Sri Lanka Freedom Party[lower-roman 5]66,5790.57%101
Muslim National Alliance55,9810.48%101
  51,3010.44%101
 All Ceylon Makkal Congress[lower-roman 6]43,3190.37%101
 National Congress[lower-roman 2]39,2720.34%101
 Sri Lanka Muslim Congress[lower-roman 7]34,4280.30%101
 Independents223,6221.93%000
United Peace Alliance31,0540.27%000
All Lanka Tamil Mahasabha30,0310.26%000
National Development Front14,6860.13%000
 Frontline Socialist Party14,5220.13%000
Social Democratic Party of Tamils11,4640.10%000
 Tamil United Liberation Front9,8550.08%000
Socialist Party of Sri Lanka9,3680.08%000
People's Welfare Front7,3610.06%000
Sinhalese National Front5,0560.04%000
 New Democratic Front4,8830.04%000
United Left Front4,8790.04%000
Liberal Party of Sri Lanka4,3450.04%000
National People's Party3,8130.03%000
Democratic United National Front3,6110.03%000
National Democratic Front3,4880.03%000
Sri Lanka Labour Party3,1340.03%000
 Democratic Left Front2,9640.03%000
New Sinhala Heritage1,3970.01%000
 United Socialist Party1,1890.01%000
Motherland People's Party1,0870.01%000
 Eelavar Democratic Front1,0350.01%000
 Socialist Equality Party7800.01%000
 Lanka Sama Samaja Party[lower-roman 4]7370.01%000
All Are Citizens All Are Kings Organization6320.01%000
 Democratic Unity Alliance1450.00%000
Valid Votes11,598,929100.00%19629225
Rejected Votes744,3736.03%
Total Polled12,343,30275.89%
Registered Electors16,263,885

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: 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: (The above statistics include the new local government authorities established by the government in January 2006.)

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

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.[6]

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.

gollark: There are quite a lot of them.
gollark: Except people who want gun control.
gollark: The UN one?
gollark: The rights *which countries grant you* are defined by laws, the general ideas of the rights less so.
gollark: Kind of, maybe?

See also

References
  1. The Economist Intelligence Unit (8 January 2019). "Democracy Index 2019". Economist Intelligence Unit. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  2. "Presidential Election - 2019: Final Result - All Island". news.lk. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Department of Government Information. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  3. "2020 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Elections". Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka: Election Commission of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  4. "Parliamentary Election 2020". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  5. "Official Election Results Parliamentary Election - 2020 - Sri Lanka". news.lk. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Department of Government Information. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  6. 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
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