Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka

Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලි‌මේන්තු කථානායක; இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்ற சபாநாயகர்
	Emblem of Sri Lanka
	Flag of Sri Lanka
	Incumbent; Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena ; since 20 August 2020
Style	Honourable Speaker
Residence	The Speaker's Residence, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte
Appointer	Parliament of Sri Lanka
Constituting instrument	Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Inaugural holder	Alexander Francis Molamure
Formation	7 July 1931;92 years ago; (as Speaker of the State Council of Ceylon)
Succession	Second
Deputy	Deputy Speaker of the Parliament
Salary	LKR 822,000 annually (2016)
Website	www.parliament.lk

Last updated March 18, 2024

The Speaker of the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the presiding officer of the chamber. The current Speaker of the Parliament is Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, in office since 20 August 2020. 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.

Origins

In 1931 under the Donoughmore Constitution the State Council of Ceylon was established and in it the first office of a Speaker of a legislative body was created as the Speaker of the State Council.

In 1947, according to the recommendations of the Soulbury Commission the State Council was dissolved and a Parliament was established in the Westminster model with an upper house, the Senate and the House of Representatives. While the head of the President of the Senate became the head of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives became the presiding officer of the House of Representatives. The office of the Speaker, as it exists now, was established in 1947, with the opening of the First Parliament of Ceylon on 4 February 1948, granting of independence and the establishment of the Dominion of Ceylon.

Duties and powers

The Speaker presides over the House's debates, determining which members may speak. The Speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may punish members who break the rules of the House. The Speaker remains strictly non-partisan, and renounces all affiliation with his or her former political party when taking office for the duration of his term. The Speaker does not take part in debate or vote (except to break ties). Apart from duties relating to presiding over the House, the Speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions, and remains a constituency Member of Parliament (MP). The Speaker would be a chairmen of the constitutional council. The Speaker may accept the resignation of the president. The chief justice in consultation with the Speaker may determine that the president is temporarily unable to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions and appoint the prime minister as acting president.^[3]

Appointment

As per the Article 64 of the Constitution when Parliament first meets after a general election, it will elect three members to serve as the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees (known simply as the Deputy Speaker) and the Deputy Chairman of Committees. The Speaker would vacate his office only if he tenders his resignation to the President or ceases to be a Member of Parliament or when Parliament dissolved.^[3]

Deputies

The Speaker is assisted by two deputies, all of whom are elected by the House. These are Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairman of Committees. In the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker or in their absence the Deputy Chairman of Committees, shall preside at sittings of Parliament. If none of them is present, a Member elected by Parliament for the sitting shall preside at the sitting of Parliament.^[3]

Precedence, salary, residence and privileges

The Speaker's official residence in Kotte Spaeakers1.jpg — The Speaker's official residence in Kotte

The Speaker is the third highest-ranking official in Sri Lanka. At present, Speaker ranks in the order of precedence after the President and Prime Minister. From 1948 to 1971 (when the Senate was abolished) the Speaker ranked fifth in the precedence after the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice and the President of the Senate. From 1971 to 1978, the Speaker ranked fourth in the precedence after the Governor-General/President, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice. After the second amendment to the Republican Constitution in 1978, in which the Speaker was placed second in the presidential line of succession; the Speaker gained his current position in the order of precedence.^[3]

In 2016, the Speaker received a salary of 68,500 Sri Lankan rupees per month and other entitlements of a Member of Parliament.^[4] In addition, the Speaker can use the Speaker's Residence and entitled to transport and security arranged by the Parliamentary Secretariat. At each sitting of parliament, the Speaker (or the presiding officer) travels in to the chamber in procession, after the Sergeant-at-Arms carrying the ceremonial mace that symbolises the authority of the Parliament. Sergeant-at-Arms attends the Speaker on other occasions. The Speaker has his office in the Parliament Complex and the Secretary-General of Parliament, who is in charge of the administrative duties of Parliament reports to the Speaker.^[3]

Official dress

On ceremonial sittings or occasions, the Speaker wears a robe of black satin damask trimmed with gold lace, a mourning rosette (also known as a 'wig bag') and frogs with full bottomed wig. On normal sitting days, the Speaker wears only the robe and rosette without the wig or in certain cases without the official dress. This practice was adopted from the official dress of the Speaker of the House of Commons.

List of speakers of Parliament

Parties

Governors of British Ceylon Independent United National Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna

Name		Party	Tenure		Parliament
Speakers of the State Council of Ceylon (1931–1947)
	Alexander Francis Molamure	Non-partisan	7 July 1931 – 10 December 1934	Graeme Thomson Francis Graeme Tyrrell Reginald Edward Stubbs	1st State Council
	Forester Augustus Obeysekera	Non-partisan	11 December 1934 – 7 December 1935	Reginald Edward Stubbs	1st State Council
	Waithilingam Duraiswamy	Non-partisan	17 March 1936 – 4 July 1947	Reginald Edward Stubbs Maxwell MacLagan Wedderburn Andrew Caldecott Henry Monck-Mason Moore	2nd State Council
Speakers of the Parliament of Ceylon (1947–1972)
	Alexander Francis Molamure	United National Party	14 October 1947 – 25 January 1951	Henry Monck-Mason Moore D. S. Senanayake	1st
	Albert Peries	United National Party	13 February 1951 – 18 February 1956	D. S. Senanayake Dudley Senanayake John Kotelawala	1st
	Albert Peries	United National Party	13 February 1951 – 18 February 1956	D. S. Senanayake Dudley Senanayake John Kotelawala	2nd
	Hameed Hussain Sheikh Ismail	Independent	19 April 1956 – 5 December 1959	John Kotelawala S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Wijeyananda Dahanayake	3rd
	Tikiri Banda Subasinghe	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	30 March 1960 – 23 April 1960	Dudley Senanayake	4th
	R. S. Pelpola	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	5 August 1960 – 24 January 1964	Sirimavo Bandaranaike	5th
	Hugh Fernando	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	24 January 1964 – 17 December 1964	Sirimavo Bandaranaike	5th
	Albert Peries	United National Party	5 April 1965 – 21 September 1967	Dudley Senanayake	6th
	Shirley Corea	United National Party	27 September 1967 – 25 March 1970	Dudley Senanayake	6th
	Stanley Tillekeratne	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	7 June 1970 – 22 May 1972	Sirimavo Bandaranaike	7th
Speakers of the National State Assembly (1972–1978)
	Stanley Tillekeratne	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	22 May 1972 – 18 May 1977	Sirimavo Bandaranaike	1st
	Anandatissa de Alwis	United National Party	4 August 1977 – 7 September 1978	J. R. Jayewardene	2nd
Speakers of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (1978–present)
	Anandatissa de Alwis	United National Party	7 September 1978 – 13 September 1978	J. R. Jayewardene	8th
	Abdul Bakeer Markar	United National Party	21 September 1978 – 30 August 1983
	E. L. Senanayake	United National Party	6 September 1983 – 20 December 1988
	M. H. Mohamed	United National Party	9 March 1989 – 24 June 1994	Ranasinghe Premadasa Dingiri Banda Wijetunga	9th
	Kiri Banda Ratnayake	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	25 August 1994 – 10 October 2000	Dingiri Banda Wijetunga	10th
	Kiri Banda Ratnayake	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	25 August 1994 – 10 October 2000	Chandrika Kumaratunga	10th
	Anura Bandaranaike	United National Party	18 October 2000 – 10 October 2001	Chandrika Kumaratunga	11th
	M. Joseph Michael Perera	United National Party	19 December 2001 – 7 February 2004	Chandrika Kumaratunga	12th
	W. J. M. Lokubandara	United National Party	22 April 2004 – 8 April 2010	Chandrika Kumaratunga Mahinda Rajapaksa	13th
	Chamal Rajapaksa	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	22 April 2010 – 26 June 2015	Mahinda Rajapaksa Maithripala Sirisena	14th
	Karu Jayasuriya	United National Party	1 September 2015 – 2 March 2020	Maithripala Sirisena	15th
	Karu Jayasuriya	United National Party	1 September 2015 – 2 March 2020	Gotabaya Rajapaksa	15th
	Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	20 August 2020 – present	Gotabaya Rajapaksa	16th
	Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	20 August 2020 – present	Ranil Wickremesinghe	16th

No Confidence Motions

1st- Against Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane

On March 5th 2024 the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya hand over a no confidence motion against the Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena claiming his actions to failure to protect the constitution by signing the online safe act. This is the first no confidence motion against a Speaker of Parliament in the history of Sri Lanka. ^[5]

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References

↑ Thomas, Kris (21 November 2016). "Of Ministers' Salaries And Parliamentary Perks". Roar.lk. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
↑ Thomas, Kavindya Chris (20 November 2016). "Do MPs get fat salaries?". Ceylontoday.lk. Ceylon Today. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
1 2 3 4 5 6 The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
↑ Of Ministers’ Salaries And Parliamentary Perks
↑ https://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=97742

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[1] Thomas, Kris (21 November 2016). "Of Ministers' Salaries And Parliamentary Perks". Roar.lk. Retrieved 30 August 2017.

[2] Thomas, Kavindya Chris (20 November 2016). "Do MPs get fat salaries?". Ceylontoday.lk. Ceylon Today. Retrieved 30 August 2017.

[Constitution-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

[4] Of Ministers’ Salaries And Parliamentary Perks

[5] ttps://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=97742

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