President of Sri Lanka

President of Sri Lanka ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති இலங்கை சனாதிபதி
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Maithripala Sirisena since 9 January 2015
Style	The Honourable (Informal) His Excellency (Formal and diplomatic)
Residence	President's House
Term length	Five years, renewable once
Constituting instrument	Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Inaugural holder	William Gopallawa
Formation	22 May 1972 (1972-05-22)
Website	President Presidential Secretariat

Sri Lanka

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The President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhalese: ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති Sri Lanka Janadhipathi; Tamil: இலங்கை சனாதிபதி) is the elected head of state and head of government of Sri Lanka. The President leads the executive branch of the Sri Lankan government and is the commander-in-chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

The office was created in 1972 and the president remains the single most dominant political office in the country. The current President is Maithripala Sirisena.

History

At independence, executive power in Ceylon resided with the monarch, represented by the Governor-General, which was exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister. The 1972 constitution removed the monarch and replaced the governor-general with a president, but it remained a mostly ceremonial position.

The 1978 constitution moved from a Westminster-based political system into one modeled on France. As in France, a new, directly elected President with a longer term and independence from Parliament was created. The President is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, head of the Cabinet, appoints the prime minister, and could dissolve parliament (after one year has passed since the convening of parliament after a parliamentary election) The 17th constitutional amendment of 2001 reduced certain powers of the President in particular in regard to the appointment of the upper judiciary and independent commissions such as the election commission or the bribery and corruption commission. After 2005 this amendment has been illegally ignored by the president.

In practice, the Sri Lankan presidency was much more powerful than the President of France. French presidents traditionally deal only with defense and foreign policy, leaving domestic affairs to the Prime Minister. Sri Lankan presidents are involved with every aspect of the government and are able to hold cabinet portfolios, or can bypass the cabinet posts by delegating decisions to the Presidential Secretariat.

The Nineteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution implemented restrictions on the powers of the presidency. It limited the presidency to two, five year terms. The amendment mandates that the president consult the prime minister on ministerial appointments. It curtails any president’s immunity by making him liable to fundamental rights litigation on any official act.^[1]

Powers

Presidents have little constraints on their power and they cannot be taken to court. However they can be impeached by a two-thirds majority in Parliament. They can place the country in a state of emergency, under which they can override any law passed and promulgate any regulation without needing legislative approval. However, to prolong the state of emergency for more than a month parliamentary approval is needed.

At the opening of Parliament, the President delivers an address similar to a Speech from the Throne, outlining government policy.

The President has the power to appoint Attorneys-at-Laws to the position of President's Counsel and military personnel to the post of Aide de Camp to the President.

After the recent Sri Lankan presidential election, 2015 current President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena has pledged in a 100-day work program to bringing in constitutional reforms to return to Westminster-style government based on an executive cabinet responsible to parliament.^[2]

Residence

The Old Parliament Building the near the Galle Face Green, now the Presidential Secretariat

Main article: Presidential Secretariat

The official residence of the president is the President's House (formally the Queen's House as the residences of the Governor General) in Colombo. However the president's office is the Presidential Secretariat which is at the former Parliament building in Colombo, where many formal functions takes place. Other presidential residences include:

the President's Pavilion, in Kandy, is a presidential residences used for (rare) state functions;
the Queen's Cottage is the official presidential vacationing residence in the town of Nuwara Eliya.

In recent years from time to time Prime Minister's House, commonly referred to as Temple Tree's, which has been the official residence of the Prime Minister since 1948, has been used by presidents. In 2015 President Sirisena refuse to use Presidents House or the Temple Trees and use his former ministerial residence at Wijayarama Mawatha. The Temple Trees was given back to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe where he use for official work only and resides at his private house in Colombo 7.

List of Presidents

Main article: List of Presidents of Sri Lanka

Last election

First Executive President of Sri Lanka His Excellency J. R. Jayewardene

**Summary of the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election**^[3]
Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Maithripala Sirisena	New Democratic Front	6,217,162	51.28%
	Mahinda Rajapaksa	United People's Freedom Alliance	5,768,090	47.58%
	Ratnayake Arachchige Sirisena	Patriotic National Front	18,174	0.15%
	Namal Ajith Rajapaksa	Our National Front	15,726	0.13%
	Maulawi Ibrahim Mohanmed Mishlar	United Peace Front	14,379	0.12%
	A. S. P. Liyanage	Sri Lanka Labour Party	14,351	0.12%
	Ruwanthileke Peduru	United Lanka People's Party	12,436	0.10%
	Aithurus M. Illias	Independent	10,618	0.09%
	Duminda Nagamuwa	Frontline Socialist Party	9,941	0.08%
	Siritunga Jayasuriya	United Socialist Party	8,840	0.07%
	Sarath Manamendra	New Sinhala Heritage	6,875	0.06%
	Pani Wijesiriwardene	Socialist Equality Party	4,277	0.04%
	Anurudha Polgampola	Independent	4,260	0.04%
	Sundaram Mahendran	Nava Sama Samaja Party	4,047	0.03%
	Muthu Bandara Theminimulla	All Are Citizens, All Are Kings Organisation	3,846	0.03%
	Battaramulle Seelarathana	Jana Setha Peramuna	3,750	0.03%
	Prasanna Priyankara	Democratic National Movement	2,793	0.02%
	Jayantha Kulathunga	United Lanka Great Council	2,061	0.02%
	Wimal Geeganage	Sri Lanka National Front	1,826	0.02%
Valid votes			12,123,452	100.00%
Rejected votes			140,925
Total polled			12,264,377
Registered electors			15,044,490
Turnout			81.52%

References

↑ "Strides in the right direction". The Economist. Apr 30, 2015. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2015-05-11.
↑ "PRESIDENT MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA’S 100 DAY WORK PROGRAMME". 10 January 2015. Daily News Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
↑ "Presidential Election 08-01-2015 – Official Results – All Island Final Result". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.

External links

Presidents of Sri Lanka

William Gopallawa Junius Richard Jayewardene Ranasinghe Premadasa Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Chandrika Kumaratunga Mahinda Rajapaksa Maithripala Sirisena

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