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: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); 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 head of government: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); 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 cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister elections : president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 9 November 1994 (next to be held NA November 2000) election results : Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA elected president; percent of vote - Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (People's Alliance) 62%, Srima DISSANAYAKE (United National Party) 37%, other 1%
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (225 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of a modified proportional representation system to serve six-year terms) elections: last held 16 August 1994 (next to be held by August 2000) election results: percent of vote by party - 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 by party - 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; Court of Appeals
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)
Political pressure groups and leaders: 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, IHO, 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
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Geetha DE SILVA chancery : 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4025 through 4028 FAX : [1] (202) 232-7181 consulate(s): New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador A. Peter BURLEIGH embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 mailing address : P. O. Box 106, Colombo telephone: [94] (1) 448007 FAX: [94] (1) 437345, 446013