Sri Lanka is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is both head of state and head of government, and it relies on a multi-party system. 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. For decades, the party system was 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 Sinhala majority and the Tamil and Muslim minorities, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island.
The Order of Precedence in Sri Lanka the protocol list at which Sri Lankan government officials are seated according to their rank. This is not the list of succession.
Chief ministers in Sri Lanka are elected heads of the provincial boards of ministers, bodies which aid and advice the governors, the heads of the provincial government, in the exercise of their executive power. The governor appoints as chief minister a member of the provincial council who, in his opinion, commands the support of a majority of that council. There are nine chief ministerial positions in the country, out of which only six are currently occupied, while 3 are vacant and under the governor's direct rule.
A Governor of a Province in Sri Lanka, is the head of the provincial council and representative of the President of Sri Lanka in the province. Established in 1987, under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka and deriving its powers from the Provincial Council Act No 47 of 1987, a governor exercises executive power in respect of subjects devolved to provincial council.
Sri Lanka has held several rounds of Provincial Council elections in 2008 and 2009 to elect members to eight of the country’s Provincial Councils. The decision to hold elections in different parts of the country on separate days was a break in the usual practice, which is to hold elections for the whole country on the same day. For each provincial council, members are elected to serve a five-year term. A chief minister for the province is chosen by the elected members.
Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is a Sri Lankan politician and landed proprietor. He is the Current Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament. He first entered parliament in 1983 as the Hakmana United National Party and has been active in politics for more than 30 years.
Pavithra Wanniarachchi is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. The current Minister of Transport, she is a Member of Parliament from the Ratnapura District.
Reginald Cooray is a Sri Lankan teacher and politician. He is a former provincial chief minister and a former government minister. He is the 5th Governor of the Northern Province, and was briefly the Governor of the Central Province in April 2018, his tenure lasting for less than 24 hours, making it the shortest of any Governorship in Sri Lankan history.
Provincial governments of Sri Lanka are the devolved governments of the nine Provinces of Sri Lanka. In accordance with the Sri Lankan constitution, provinces have legislative power over a variety of matters including agriculture, education, health, housing, local government, planning, road transport and social services. The constitution also gives them powers over police and land but successive central governments have refused to devolve these powers to the provinces.
The Government of the Northern Province refers to the provincial government of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Under the Sri Lankan constitution the nine provincial governments of the country have power over a variety of matters including agriculture, education, health, housing, local government, planning, road transport and social services. The constitution also gives them powers over police and land but successive central governments have refused to devolve these powers to the provinces. Legislative power rests with the Northern Provincial Council whilst executive power rests with the Governor and Board of Ministers.
