Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Type, independent state since 1948

Capital: Colombo

Political subdivisions 9 provinces, 24 administrative districts

Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, and customary law; new constitution 7 September 1978 reinstituted a strong, independent judiciary; legal education at Sri Lanka Law College and University of Colombo; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 22 May

Branches: the 1978 constitution established a strong presidential form of government under J. R. Jayewardene, who haa been Prime Minister since his party’s election victory in July 1977; Jayewardene was elected to a second term in October 1982 and will serve until 1989 regardless of whether Parliament is dissolved; the current Parliament was extended until August 1989 by a national referendum held in December 1982

Government leader: Junius Richard JAYEWARDENE, President (since 1978)

Suffrage: universal over age 18

Elections: national elections ordinarily held every six years, must be held more frequently if government loses confidence vote; the constitution was amended in August 1982 to permit the President to call an early presidential election

Political partiesand leaders: Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike; Sri lamka Mahajana Party, Vijaya Kumaratunga, Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP; Trotskyite), C. R. de Silva; Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP), V. Nanayakkara; Tamil United Liberation Front. A. Amirthaiingam; United National Party (UNP), J. R. Jayewardene; Communist Party/Moscow, K. P Silva; Communist Party/Peking, N. Shanmugathasan; Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People’s United Front), Μ. B. hatnayaka Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; People’s Liberation Front). Rohana Wijeweera; All-Ceylon Tamil Congress, Kumar Ponnambaiam

Voting strength: (October 1982 presidential election) UNP 52.91%, SLFP 39.07%, JVP 4.18%, All Ceylon Tamil Congress 2.67%, LSSP .9%, NSSP .27%

Communists: approximately 107,000 voted for the Communist Party in the July 1977 general election; Communist Party/Moscow approximately 5,000 members (1975), Communist Party/Peking 1,000 members (1970 est.)

Other political or pressure groups. Tamil separatist groups, Buddhist clergy, Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; far-left violent revolutionary groups; labor unions

Member of: ADB, ANRPC, Coiombo Plan, Commonwealth, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, 1LO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, NAM, SAARC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

NOTE: The information regarding Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.