National holiday: Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)
Constitution: adopted 16 August 1978
Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state and head of government: President Chandrika
Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994) was elected for a
six-year term by popular vote; note - Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE is the
prime minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered to be both
the chief of state and the head of the government, this is in
contrast to the more common practice of dividing the roles between
the president and the prime minister when both offices exist;
election last held 9 November 1994 (next to be held NA November
2000); results - Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (People's
Alliance) 62%, Srima DISSANAYAKE (United National Party) 37%, other
1%
cabinet: Cabinet was appointed by the president in consultation with
the prime minister
Legislative branch: unicameral
Parliament: elections last held 16 August 1994 (next to be held by
August 2000); results - PA 49.0%, UNP 44.0%, SLMC 1.8%, TULF 1.7%,
SLPF 1.1%, EPDP 0.3%, UPF 0.3%, PLOTE 0.1%, other 1.7%; seats - (225
total) PA 105, UNP 94, EPDP 9, SLMC 7, TULF 5, PLOTE 3, SLPF 1, UPF 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the
Judicial Service Commission
Political parties and leaders: All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC),
C. G. Kumar PONNAMBALAM; Ceylon Workers Congress (CLDC), S.
THONDAMAN; Communist Party, K. P. SILVA; Communist Party/Beijing
(CP/B), N. SHANMUGATHASAN; Democratic People's Liberation Front
(DPLF), leader NA; Democratic United National Front (DUNF), G. M.
PREMACHANDRA; Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Douglas
DEVANANDA; Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRL),
Suresh PREMACHANDRAN; Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students
(EROS), Shankar RAJI; Lanka Socialist Party/Trotskyite (LSSP, or
Lanka Sama Samaja Party), Colin R. DE SILVA; Liberal Party (LP),
Chanaka AMARATUNGA; New Socialist Party (NSSP, or Nava Sama Samaja
Party), Vasudeva NANAYAKKARA; People's Alliance (PA), Chandrika
Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil
Eelam (PLOTE), Dharmalingam SIDARTHAN; People's United Front (MEP,
or Mahajana Eksath Peramuna), Dinesh GUNAWARDENE; Sri Lanka Freedom
Party (SLFP), Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
(SLMC), M. H. M. ASHRAFF; Sri Lanka People's Party (SLMP, or Sri
Lanka Mahajana Party), Ossie ABEYGUNASEKERA; Sri Lanka Progressive
Front (SLPF), leader NA; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO),
leader NA; Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), M. SIVASITHAMBARAM;
United National Party (UNP), Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGA; Upcountry
People's Front (UPF), leader NA; several ethnic Tamil and Muslim
parties, represented in either parliament or provincial councils
note: the United Socialist Alliance (USA), which was formed in 1987
and included the NSSP, LSSP, SLMP, CP/M, and CP/B, was defunct as of
1993, following the formation of the People's Alliance Party (PA)
Other political or pressure groups: Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) and other smaller Tamil separatist groups; other
radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups; Buddhist clergy; Sinhalese
Buddhist lay groups; labor unions
International organization participation: AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP,
FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO,
ITU, NAM, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO