Government

Government#

presidential republic

System

presidential republic

Capital

Colombo (commercial capital); Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative capital)

Head of state

President Anura Kumara DISSANAYAKE (since 23 September 2024)

Head of government

President Anura Kumara DISSANAYAKE (since 23 September 2024)

Legislature

legislature name: Parliament; legislative structure: unicameral; number of seats: 225 (196 directly elected; 29 indirectly elected); electoral system: proportional representation; scope of elections: full renewal; term in office: 5 years; most recent election date: 11/14/2024; parties elected and seats per party: National People’s Power (Jathika Jana Balawegaya, NPP) (159); Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) (40); Other (26); percentage of women in chamber: 9.8%; expected date of next election: November 2029

Judiciary

highest court(s): Supreme Court of the Republic (consists of the chief justice and 9 justices); has exclusive jurisdiction to review legislation; judge selection and term of office: chief justice nominated by the Constitutional Council (CC), a 9-member high-level advisory body, and appointed by the president; other justices nominated by the CC and appointed by the president on the advice of the chief justice; all justices can serve until age 65; subordinate courts: Court of Appeals; High Courts; Magistrates’ Courts; municipal and primary courts

Constitution

history: several previous; latest adopted 16 August 1978, certified 31 August 1978; amendment process: proposed by Parliament; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote of its total membership, certification by the president of the republic or the Parliament speaker, and in some cases approval in a referendum by absolute majority of valid votes

Independence

4 February 1948 (from the UK)

Administrative divisions

9 provinces; Central, Eastern, North Central, Northern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western

Departments#

TODO. Ministries and authoritative sites, to be filled out.

Hierarchy#

How power is wired. The diagram below carries the generic template; refine the boxes and edges to match the current regime.

        flowchart TD
  HoS["Head of State"]
  HoG["Head of Government"]
  Leg["Legislature"]
  Jud["Judiciary"]
  Cab["Cabinet"]
  Foreign["Foreign Affairs"]
  Interior["Interior"]
  Defense["Defense"]
  Finance["Finance"]
  Justice["Justice"]

  HoS --> HoG
  HoG --> Cab
  Cab --> Foreign
  Cab --> Interior
  Cab --> Defense
  Cab --> Finance
  Cab --> Justice
  HoS -.- Leg
  HoS -.- Jud

Resources#

Public-facing portals the people use day to day. Operators monitor these for policy changes, official notices, and civil-registry data.

Resource

Site

Purpose

National portal

to be filled

One-stop government services for citizens.

Tax / revenue

to be filled

Income tax, VAT, customs.

Civil registry

to be filled

Births, deaths, marriages, national ID.

Immigration

to be filled

Visas, residency, naturalisation.

Health

to be filled

Public health, advisories, vaccination records.

Education

to be filled

Curricula, school directories, transcripts.

Statistics

to be filled

Census, economic indicators, opendata.

Police / emergency

to be filled

Reporting, missing persons, emergency contacts.
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