Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (225 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of a modified proportional representation system by district to serve six-year terms)
elections: last held 10 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - PA 45.11%, UNP 40.22%, JVP 6%, NUA 2.29%, SU 1.48%, TULF 1.23%, other 3.67%; seats by party - PA 107, UNP 89, JVP 10, TULF 5, EPDP 4, NUA 4, TELO 3, ACTC 1, SU 1, independent 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by the president
Political parties and leaders: All Ceylon Tamil Congress or ACTC
[Nalliah GURUPAUAN]; Ceylon Workers Congress or CLDC [Arumugam
THONDAMAN]; Communist Party [Raja COLLURE]; Democratic United
National (Lalith) Front or DUNLF [Srimani ATHULATHMUDALI]; Eelam
People's Democratic Party or EPDP [Douglas DEVANANDA]; Eelam
People's Revolutionary Liberation Front or EPRLF [Suresh
PREMACHANDRA]; Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP [Tilvan SILVA];
National Unity Alliance or NUA [leader NA]; People's Alliance or PA
[Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA]; People's Liberation
Organization of Tamil Eelam or PLOTE [D. SIDDATHAN]; Sihala Urumaya
or SU [leader NA]; Sri Lanka Freedom Party or SLFP [Chandrika
Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA]; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress or SLMC [Rauff
HAKEEM and Ferial ASHRAFF]; Sri Lanka Progressive Front or SLPF
[leader NA]; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization or TELO
[SUBRAMANIUM]; Tamil United Liberation Front or TULF [R. SAMPATHAN];
United National Party or UNP [Ranil WICKREMASINGHE]; Upcountry
People's Front or UPF [P. CHANDRASEKARAN]; several ethnic Tamil and
Muslim parties, represented in either parliament or provincial
councils
Political pressure groups and leaders: Buddhist clergy; labor unions; Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE (insurgent group fighting for a separate state); radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups such as the National Movement Against Terrorism; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups
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, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Warnasena RASAPUTRAM
chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 483-4025 (through 4028)