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.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015;the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005,2018,and 2019 to 2022;the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019,and the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kurunegala since 2015.
The United People's Freedom Alliance was a political alliance in Sri Lanka founded by former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2004 and dissolved by former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in 2019.
Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake,PC was a prominent Sri Lankan politician,a powerful minister of the United National Party,and Leader of the Opposition. He was designated as the UNP candidate in the 1994 presidential election,but was then assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Don Alwin Rajapaksa was a Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament who represented the Beliatta electorate in Hambantota district from 1947 to 1965. A founding member of Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government,he was the father of two Sri Lankan Presidents;Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
His Excellency Mahinda Buddhadasa Samarasinghe is a former MP and the current Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States and Mexico and High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago.
The Speaker of the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the presiding officer of the chamber. The Speaker fulfills a number of important functions in relation to the operation of the House,which is based upon the British Westminster parliamentary system. The speaker is second in the Sri Lankan presidential line of succession,after the prime minister.
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.
Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the Governor of the North Western Province and as the Governors of the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. A former representative of Matara District for the United People's Freedom Alliance in the Parliament of Sri Lanka,he served as the cabinet minister of parliamentary affairs,Minister of Media,Deputy Minister of Economic Development,Minister of Foreign Employment Welfare,deputy minister of civil aviation and as the cabinet minister of Investment Promotion. He was the state minister for State Enterprise Development in the government of President Maithripala Sirisena. He has been in parliament from 1994 and 2019.
Matara electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Matara in the Southern province. The district currently elects 8 of the 225 members of the Sri Lankan Parliament and had 578,858 registered electors in 2010.
The 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka,with the membership determined by the results of the 2000 parliamentary election held on 10 October 2000. The parliament met for the first time on 18 October 2000 and was dissolved on 10 October 2001.
Shirani Bandaranayake,the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka,was impeached by Parliament and then removed from office by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2013. Bandaranayake was accused of a number of charges including financial impropriety and interfering in legal cases,all of which she has denied. The impeachment followed a series of rulings against the government by the Supreme Court,including one against a bill proposed by Minister Basil Rajapaksa,President Rajapaksa's brother. Bandaranayake was replaced as chief justice by former Attorney General Mohan Peiris. Peiris is considered to be an ally of President Rajapaksa and his appointment is seen by critics as further consolidation of power by the president and his family. Bandaranayake refused to recognise the impeachment and lawyers groups refused to work with the new chief justice. Bandaranayake's controversial impeachment drew much criticism and concern from within and outside of Sri Lanka. On 28 January 2015 she was reinstated and retired on 29 January,the next day.
Warnakulasuriya Ichchampullige Hugh Fernando was a Sri Lankan politician born in Nainamadama. He was the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament.
The 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka was the meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka with its membership determined by the results of the 2015 parliamentary election,held on 17 August 2015. The parliament met for the first time on 1 September 2015 and was dissolved on 3 March 2020.
The Constitutional Council (CC) is a 10-member constitutional authority in Sri Lanka tasked with maintaining independent commissions and monitoring its affairs. The Constitutional Council is aimed at depoliticizing the public service.
The Sri Lanka People's Front,commonly known by its Sinhalese name Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP),is a political party in Sri Lanka. It was the ruling party in Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2022 and was the largest party in parliament from 2020 to 2024. Previously a minor political party known as the Sri Lanka National Front (SLNF) and Our Sri Lanka Freedom Front (OSLFF),it was relaunched in 2016 as the SLPP and the party became the base for members of the United People's Freedom Alliance loyal to its former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Rajapaksa family.
A constitutional crisis began in Sri Lanka when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former president and member of parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister on 26 October 2018 before formally dismissing the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe,resulting in two concurrent prime ministers. Wickremesinghe and the United National Party (UNP) viewed the appointment as illegal,and he refused to resign.
Balaupasakage Yasodis Tudawe was a Sri Lankan communist politician. He was a member of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka,serving two terms as a member of parliament and one term as Deputy Minister of Education. He studied at St. Servatius' College,Matara.
The 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka was the meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka with its membership determined by the results of the 2020 parliamentary election held on 5 August 2020. The parliament met for the first time on 20 August 2020 and was dissolved on 24 September 2024.
The inauguration of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the 8th executive president of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka took place on Thursday,21 July 2022. This officially marked the beginning of Wickremesinghe's term in office,which will conclude in November 2024.
