Government of Sri Lanka

Central government of Sri Lanka

Government of Sri LankaSinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය
Tamil: இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்

Emblem of the Government of Sri Lanka

Formation| 1978; 47 years ago (1978)
(under current constitution)
Founding document| Constitution of Sri Lanka
Jurisdiction| Sri Lanka
Website| www.gov.lk
Legislative branch
Legislature| Parliament
Meeting place| New Parliament Complex
Executive branch
Leader| President of Sri Lanka
Headquarters| Presidential Secretariat
Main organ| Cabinet
Judicial branch
Court| Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
Seat| Colombo and Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte,
Colombo District
This article is part of a series on the

Politics of
Sri Lanka

Constitution

* Amendments
* Law
* Human rights
* Taxation

* * *

Previous Constitutions

* 1931
* 1947
* 1972

Executive

President of Sri Lanka (10th)

* Anura Kumara Dissanayake

* * *

Ministerial portfolios

* Defence
* Finance, Planning and
Economic Development
* Digital Economy

* * *

Administration

* Dissanayake I
* Dissanayake II

* * *

* Presidential Secretariat

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (16th)

* Harini Amarasuriya

* * *

Ministerial portfolios

* Education, Higher Education and
Vocational Education

* * *

* Prime Minister's Office

Cabinet of Sri Lanka

* List of Cabinets
* Ministers
* Ministries
* Cabinet Office

* * *

* National Security Council

Legislature

Parliament of Sri Lanka (17th)

* * *

* Speaker (23rd)

* Jagath Wickramaratne

* * *

* Deputy Speaker and
Chairman of Committees

* Rizvie Salih

* * *

* Deputy Chairperson of Committees

* Hemali Weerasekara

* * *

* Leader of the Opposition

* Sajith Premadasa

* * *

* Leader of the House

* Bimal Rathnayake

* * *

* Chief Government Whip

* Nalinda Jayatissa

* * *

* Chief Opposition Whip

* Gayantha Karunathilaka

* * *

* Constitutional Council
* COPE
* Parliament Secretariat

Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs

* Cabinet Minister

* Ananda Wijepala

Judiciary

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

* Chief Justice (49th)

* Padman Surasena

* * *

* Justices of the Supreme Court

Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka

* President of the Court (52nd)

* Nalin Abeysooriya

* * *

* Judges of the Court of Appeal

* * *

* High Court
* District Court
* Magistrate's Court
* Primary Court
* Labour Tribunal

* * *

* Judicial Service Commission
* Bar Association
* Law enforcement

Attorney General's Department

* Attorney General (49th)

* Parinda Ranasinghe Jr.

* * *

* Solicitor General

* Viraj Dayaratne

Ministry of Justice

* Cabinet Minister

* Harshana Nanayakkara

Elections

Election Commission

* Chairman

* R. M. A. L. Rathnayake

* * *

* Members

Elections

* Presidential

* 1982
* 1988
* 1994
* 1999
* 2005
* 2010
* 2015
* 2019
* 2024

* * *

* Parliamentary

* 1947
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960 (M)
* 1960 (J)
* 1965
* 1970
* 1977
* 1989
* 1994
* 2000
* 2001
* 2004
* 2010
* 2015
* 2020
* 2024
* Next

* * *

* Provincial council

* 1988 (NE)
* 1999
* 2004
* 2008/09
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014 (M)
* 2014 (S)

* * *

* Local government

* 1998
* 2009
* 2011
* 2018
* 2019 (E)
* 2024 (E)
* 2025

Referendum

* 1982

* * *

* Electoral districts
* Polling divisions
* Political parties

Administrative divisions

Provinces

* Central
* Eastern
* North Central
* Northern
* North Western
* Sabaragamuwa
* Southern
* Uva
* Western

Districts

* Ampara
* Anuradhapura
* Badulla
* Batticaloa
* Colombo
* Galle
* Gampaha
* Hambantota
* Jaffna
* Kalutara
* Kandy
* Kegalle
* Kilinochchi
* Kurunegala
* Mannar
* Matale
* Matara
* Monaragala
* Mullaitivu
* Nuwara Eliya
* Polonnaruwa
* Puttalam
* Ratnapura
* Trincomalee
* Vavuniya

* * *

* District Secretariats
* Divisional Secretariats
* Grama Niladhari divisions
* Cities
* Towns
* Capital city

Devolution

* 13th Amendment
* Indo-Sri Lanka Accord

* * *

* Provincial Councils
* Governors
* Chief Ministers
* Councillors

* * *

* Local government
* Municipal Councils
* Urban Councils
* Pradeshiya Sabhas

Ministry of Provincial Councils
and Local Government

* Cabinet Minister

* Chandana Abayarathna

Central Bank

* Governor

* Nandalal Weerasinghe

* * *

* Currency
* Banknotes
* Economy

Ministry of Finance

* Cabinet Minister

* Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Foreign relations

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

* Cabinet Minister

* Vijitha Herath

* * *

* Diplomatic missions of / in Sri Lanka
* Ambassadors and high commissioners

* * *

* Passports
* Visa requirements
* Visa policy

Related topics

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* Flag
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* Sri Lanka portal
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The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, romanised: Śrī Laṅkā Rajaya; Tamil: இலங்கை அரசாங்கம், romanised: Ilaṇkai Aracāṅkam) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital of Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.[1]

State Secretariat, Colombo 1

## Constitution

[edit]

Main article: Constitution of Sri Lanka

The Constitution of Sri Lanka has been the constitution of the island nation of Sri Lanka since its original promulgation by the National State Assembly on 7 September 1978. It is Sri Lanka's second republican constitution and its third constitution since the country's independence (as Ceylon) in 1948, after the Donoughmore Constitution, Soulbury Constitution, and Constitution of 1972. As of October 2020, it has been formally amended 21 times.

## Executive branch

[edit]

Main articles: President of Sri Lanka and Ministers of the Sri Lanka Government

The President, directly elected for a five-year term, is head of state, head of government,[a] chief executive, 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 of Sri Lanka, who leads the ruling party in Parliament. The President can dissolve the cabinet and appoint a new one at any time.

Main office holders  Office | Name | Party | Since

|
|
|

President | Anura Kumara Dissanayake[2] | National People's Power | 23 September 2024
Prime Minister | Harini Amarasuriya | National People's Power | 24 September 2024

## Legislative branch

[edit]

Main article: Parliament of Sri Lanka

The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a six-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 any time after it has served for one year. 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" (see Hickman, 1999). Since its independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

## Judicial branch

[edit]

Further information: Judiciary of Sri Lanka and Law of Sri Lanka

Supreme Court Complex, Hultsdorf

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the country. It is set out in the constitution, which defines courts as independent institutions within the traditional framework of checks and balances. The Sri Lankan courts are presided over by professional judges, judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President with the nomination of the Parliamentary Council, others by the Judicial Service Commission.[3]

Sri Lanka has a legal system which is an amalgam of English common law, Roman-Dutch civil law and Customary Law.

## Elections

[edit]

Main article: Elections in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka elects on the national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a five-year term, and 196 members elected in multi-seat constituencies through a proportional representation system where each party is allocated a number of seats from the quota for each district according to the proportion of the total vote that the party obtains in the district.

## List of Governments in Sri Lanka

[edit]

* 1st - United National Party - from 1947 to 1951
* 2nd - United National Party - from 1951 to 1956

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ After the 1978 reforms, the President of Sri Lanka became the head of government instead of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Boxall, Sheryl (2008). DeRouen, Karl; Bellamy, Paul (eds.). International Security and the United States: An Encyclopedia, Volume 2. Westport, Connecticut, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 728\. ISBN 978-0-275-99255-2.
2. ^ Radhakrishnan, R. K. (2024-09-22). "Anura Kumara Dissanayake Wins Sri Lanka Presidential Election 2024". Frontline. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
3. ^ "Judicial System of Sri Lanka". Commonwealth Governance. Retrieved 17 November 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* Sri Lanka portal

General

* Government of Sri Lanka
* The Official Website of the Data and Information Unit of the Presidential Secretariat, Sri Lanka

Law

* Official site of the Judicial Service Commission Secretariat
* Sri Lanka's Legal Information Network

Executive Branch

* Official site of the Presidency Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
* Official site of the Presidential Secretariat

Legislative Branch

* Official site of the Parliament of Sri Lanka

Judiciary

* Official site of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
* Official site of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka

Others

* Official Government News Portal

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Sri Lanka topics

Overviews|

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|

Epochs|

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Politics of Sri Lanka

Law|

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Flag of Sri Lanka

Political history|

* Kandyan independence movement (1470s)
* Crisis of the Sixteenth Century (1505–1594)
* Wijayaba Kollaya (1521)
* Sinhalese–Portuguese War (1527–1658)
* Portuguese conquest of Jaffna (1560–1619)
* Fall of Kotte (1597)
* British invasion of Ceylon (1795)
* Kandyan Wars (1796–1818)
* American Ceylon Mission (1813)
* Kandyan Convention (1815)
* Sri Lankan independence movement (1817–1948)
* Great Rebellion of 1817–18 (1817–1818)
* Colebrooke-Cameron Commission (1829)
* Matale rebellion (1848)
* Temperance movement (1895)
* 1915 Ceylonese riots (1915)
* Ceylon National Congress (1919)
* Jaffna Youth Congress (1924)
* Donoughmore Commission (1927)
* Suriya-Mal Movement (1933–1939)
* Bracegirdle Incident (1937)
* Cocos Islands mutiny (1942)
* Soulbury Commission (1944)
* Independence Day (1948)
* Ceylon Citizenship Act (1948)
* State-sponsored colonisation schemes (1950s–2000s)
* 1953 Ceylonese Hartal (1953)
* Nehru-Kotelawala Pact (1954)
* Sinhala Only Act (1956)
* 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom (1956)
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* Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact (1957)
* 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom (1958)
* Coup d'état attempt (1962)
* Sirima–Shastri Pact (1964)
* Alleged coup d'état attempt (1966)
* Policy of standardisation (1971)
* 1971 JVP insurrection (1971)
* Republic Day (1972)
* Sirima–Gandhi Pact (1974)
* Vaddukoddai Resolution (1976)
* 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom (1977)
* Burning of Jaffna Public Library (1981)
* Black July (1983)
* Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009)
* Indo-Sri Lanka Accord (1987)
* 1987 anti-Sinhalese pogrom (1987)
* 1987–1989 JVP insurrection (1987–1989)
* Mawanella riots (2001)
* 2014 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka (2014)
* Alleged coup d'état attempt (2015)
* 2018 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka (2018)
* 2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis (2018)
* 2019 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka (2019)
* 2022 Sri Lankan protests (2022)
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* Exile of Gotabaya Rajapaksa (2022)

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movements|

| Ideologies|

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|

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