Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State—President Ranasinghe PREMADASA (since 2 January 1989);
Head of Government—Prime Minister Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGE (since 6 March 1989)
Political parties and leaders:
United National Party (UNP), Ranasinghe Premadasa;
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo Bandaranaike;
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Mhm. Ashraff;
All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Kumar Ponnambalam;
Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP, or People's United Front),
Dinesh Gundawardene;
Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP, or Sri Lanka People's Party),
Chandrika Baudaranaike Kumaranatunga;
Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP, Lanka Socialist Party/Trotskyite),
Colin R. de Silva;
Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP, or New Socialist Party),
Vasudeva Nanayakkara;
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), leader NA;
Communist Party/Moscow (CP/M), K. P. Silva;
Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. Shanmugathasan
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President—last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held
December 1994);
results—Ranasinghe Premadasa (UNP) 50%,
Sirimavo Bandaranaike (SLFP) 45%, others 5%;
Parliament—last held 15 February 1989 (next to be held by February 1995); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(225 total) UNP 125, SLFP 67, others 33
Other political or pressure groups: Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) and other smaller Tamil separatist groups; Janatha Vimukthi
Peramuna (JVP or People's Liberation Front); Buddhist clergy; Sinhalese
Buddhist lay groups; labor unions