President of Sri Lanka

President of Sri Lanka
Incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa since November 19, 2005
Residence	President's House
Term length	Six years, renewable
Inaugural holder	William Gopallawa 22 May, 1972
Formation	May 22, 1972
Website	president.gov.lk

Sri Lanka

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Sri Lanka

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The President of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the elected head of state and the head of government. The President is a dominant political figure in Sri Lanka. The office was created in 1978 but has grown so powerful there have been calls to restrict or even eliminate its power. The current President is Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka's presidency

At independence, executive power in Ceylon resided with the monarch of Ceylon, 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)^{[citation needed]} 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 ministries, or can bypass the cabinet posts by delegating decisions to the Presidential Secretariat.

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 by Parliament^{[citation needed]} 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 personal to the post of Aide de Camp to the President.

In the 1994 election, Chandrika Kumaratunga of the People's Alliance promised to be the last Executive President, bringing in constitutional reforms to return to Westminster-style government. This did not happen during her time in office. While some political parties have expressed their concerns on the executive presidency, its abolition is unlikely within the current Sri Lankan political framework.

List of presidents

Main article: List of Presidents of Sri Lanka

Other information

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.

Last election

 Summary of the 2010 Sri Lankan presidential election

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Mahinda Rajapaksa	United People's Freedom Alliance	6,015,934	57.88%
	Sarath Fonseka	New Democratic Front	4,173,185	40.15%
	Mohomad Cassim Mohomad Ismail	Democratic United National Front	39,226	0.38%
	Achala Ashoka Suraweera	National Development Front	26,266	0.25%
	Channa Janaka Sugathsiri Gamage	United Democratic Front	23,290	0.22%
	W. V. Mahiman Ranjith	Independent	18,747	0.18%
	A. S. P Liyanage	Sri Lanka Labour Party	14,220	0.14%
	Sarath Manamendra	New Sinhala Heritage	9,684	0.09%
	M. K. Shivajilingam	Independent	9,662	0.09%
	Ukkubanda Wijekoon	Independent	9,381	0.09%
	Lal Perera	Our National Front	9,353	0.09%
	Siritunga Jayasuriya	United Socialist Party	8,352	0.08%
	Vikramabahu Karunaratne	Left Front	7,055	0.07%
	Aithurus M. Illias	Independent	6,131	0.06%
	Wije Dias	Socialist Equality Party	4,195	0.04%
	Sanath Pinnaduwa	National Alliance	3,523	0.03%
	M. Mohamed Musthaffa	Independent	3,134	0.03%
	Battaramulle Seelarathana Thero	Jana Setha Peramuna	2,770	0.03%
	Senaratna de Silva	Patriotic National Front	2,620	0.03%
	Aruna de Zoyza	Ruhuna People's Party	2,618	0.03%
	Upali Sarath Kongahage	United National Alternative Front	2,260	0.02%
	Muthu Bandara Theminimulla	All Are Citizens, All Are Kings Organisation	2,007	0.02%
Valid Votes			10,393,613	100.00%
Rejected Votes			101,838
Total Polled			10,495,451
Registered Electors			14,088,500
Turnout			74.50%
Source: Department of Elections, Sri Lanka

See also

• Sri Lanka
• Mahinda Rajapaksa
• Presidential Secretariat
• President's Security Division
• President's Guard

External links

• Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka - list of Heads of State
• Sri Lankan President's Official Web Site
• Indian Express on the Executive Presidency
• Sri Lanka President 2010 News