Government of Sri

Lanka
History:
Sri Lankas political history is complex and
vast. After being under the control of Portugal
(1505), Dutch India Company (16588-1796, and
finally the British. In 1802, Sri Lanka, formerly
known as Ceylon, became a British Crown colony.
The Ceylonese harvest and produced coffee, tea,
and rubber. Tea is still a very popular export from
the country. In 1956, Prime Minister S.W.R.D.
Bandaranaike made the countrys official language
Sinhalese, and heavily encouraged Buddhism.
However, he was assassinated in 1959 by a
Buddhist Monk, and his widow became the worlds
first female Prime Minister. Interestingly enough,
Ceylon became Sri Lanka under her rule in 1972.
Since then, Sri Lanka has become an Independent
Republic and is no longer under British rule. The Sri
Lankan people have seen many presidents,
however, a great history of violence cut their terms
short. They have had female presidents, which is a
Executive
Branch
nod to their
ability to progress.
The Chief of State and Head of Government
is President Maithripala Sirisena. He was elected in
January of 2015. Many of the details of the
Executive Branch are similar to those of the United
States: the cabinet is appointed by the president
(with consultation from the Prime Minister), and
there are specific calendar dates for elections.

Legislative Branch

State Sector

Facts:

Full Name of the Government:

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Government Type: Republic

Capital: Colombo

Independence from the UK:

Political Pressure
There is a great influence from the Buddhist
Clergy and Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups. I found
this interesting because of the policy of Americas
separation of church and state. This policy
includes almost exactly the opposite insight;
political decisions are made with a heavy influence
from religious parties. Other groups that have
indirect influence on the government are labor
unions, nationalists, and groups against terrorism.

The Legislative Branch has a unicameral

Parliament, meaning only one house or
chamber.Members serve a six year term. The main
weakness of a unicameral system is the bias
toward majority.

Judicial Branch
The highest court of the Judicial Branch is
the Supreme Court of the Republic. One chief
justice and 10 justices have the power to review
jurisdiction.

President Sirisena