Government of Sri Lanka

Government in Sri Lanka takes place in the framework of a Presidential Representative Democratic Republic. In this form of government, President of the country is both head of the state and head of the government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. But, the judicial powers are vested in Judiciary only, which is again independent of executive and the legislature. Sri Lanka has a multi-party system and elections are held at regular intervals of six years.

Formation of Sri Lanka’s Constitution:

After gaining independence in the year 1948, Sri Lanka adopted British style parliamentary government. The Parliament was bicameral, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. However, in 1971 Senate was abolished. And in 1978 President J.R Jayewardene formed a new constitution. President became the Chief Executive and the Legislature was renamed as Parliament.

Political Branches:

Executive : The President of Sri Lanka is elected directly by the public for six year term. He is the head of the state, government and commander-in-chief of armed forces. He is answerable to the Parliament for the exercise of his duties under the constitution and laws. The President appoints the prime minister and other ministers who are responsible to Parliament. The President's deputy is prime minister, who leads the ruling party in Parliament. If a no-confidence vote is passed by parliament, the cabinet is dissolved and the president appoints new cabinet. And to remove President from his office, Parliament has to pass a no-confidence motion by two-thirds vote with the consent of Supreme Court.

Legislature : Legislature or Parliament exercises the Sovereignty of the people of Sri Lanka. It is a unicameral legislature. The Parliament has 225 members who are elected for a six year term. Out of 225 members, 196 members are elected in multi-seat constituencies and 29 by proportional representations. The president may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve Parliament. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws.

Judiciary : Judiciary is the third most important political institution of the country. Constitution of Sri Lanka ensures an independent judiciary. Supreme Court serves as the highest court of Sri Lanka. It is head by a chief justice and also has 6 to 10 associate justice members. The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review. It is also the final court of appeal for all criminal and civil cases. The President of the nation appoints the justices of both Supreme and High Court. Judges of the Supreme Court can be removed from office on grounds of incompetence or misdemeanor by a majority of Parliament. Justices of High Court can be removed only by a judicial service commission.

Administrative divisions:

At the province level, government is divided into two parallel structures: Civil Service and Provincial Councils. Civil service was established during colonial times whereas the provincial councils, were established in 1987.

Civil Service

Sri Lanka is divided into 25 districts. Each of the districts has a district secretary, also known as Government Agent. Each district has 5-16 divisions, administered by divisional secretary or D.S. At village level, Grama Niladari (Village Officers), Samurdhi Niladari (Development Officers) and agriculture extension officers work under the supervision of Development Officers.

Provincial Council

Sri Lanka’s Provincial Councils are directly elected by general public for five year terms. Leader of the party who gets majority seats in the Council becomes the Chief Minister with a group of minister. A provincial governor is appointed by the Central Government as its representative.

Local Government

Combination of Municipal Councils and Urban Councils known as Local Government. They are elected at the local level and are responsible for municipalities and cities respectively. At rural level, Village Councils are elected. At present, 42 urban councils and 270 village councils are working in Sri Lanka

Main Political Parties of Sri Lanka:

The two major political parties of Sri Lanka are socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the conservative United National Party(UNP). Apart from these two parties other political parties are Sri Lankan Muslim Congress (SLMC), Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP).