President of Sri Lanka

President of Sri Lanka ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති இலங்கை சனாதிபதி
Emblem of Sri Lanka
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Maithripala Sirisena since 9 January 2015
Style	Mr. President (Informal) His Excellency (Formal)
Residence	President's House
Term length	Five years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	William Gopallawa 22 May 1972
Formation	22 May 1972 (1972-05-22)
Website	President Presidential Secretariat

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The President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhalese: ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති; Tamil: இலங்கை சனாதிபதி) is the elected head of state and the head of government of Sri Lanka. The President is a dominant political figure in Sri Lanka. The office was created in 1978. The current President is Maithripala Sirisena.

History

At independence, executive power in Ceylon resided with the Monarch of Ceylon, represented by the Governor-General, which was exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister. The 1972 constitution removed the monarch and replaced the governor-general with a president, but it remained a mostly ceremonial position.

The 1978 constitution moved from a Westminster-based political system into one modeled on France. As in France, a new, directly elected President with a longer term and independence from Parliament was created. The President is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, head of the Cabinet, appoints the prime minister, and could dissolve parliament (after one year has passed since the convening of parliament after a parliamentary election) The 17th constitutional amendment of 2001 reduced certain powers of the President in particular in regard to the appointment of the upper judiciary and independent commissions such as the election commission or the bribery and corruption commission. After 2005 this amendment has been illegally ignored by the president.

In practice, the Sri Lankan presidency was much more powerful than the President of France. French presidents traditionally deal only with defense and foreign policy, leaving domestic affairs to the Prime Minister. Sri Lankan presidents are involved with every aspect of the government and are able to hold cabinet portfolios, or can bypass the cabinet posts by delegating decisions to the Presidential Secretariat.

Powers

Presidents have little constraints on their power and they cannot be taken to court. However they can be impeached by a two-thirds majority in Parliament. They can place the country in a state of emergency, under which they can override any law passed and promulgate any regulation without needing legislative approval. However, to prolong the state of emergency for more than a month parliamentary approval is needed.

At the opening of Parliament, the President delivers an address similar to a Speech from the Throne, outlining government policy.

The President has the power to appoint Attorneys-at-Laws to the position of President's Counsel and military personnel to the post of Aide de Camp to the President.

After the recent Sri Lankan presidential election, 2015 current President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena has pledged in a 100 day work program to bringing in constitutional reforms to return to Westminster-style government based on an executive cabinet responsible to parliament.^[1]

Residence

The Old Parliament Building the near the Galle Face Green, now the Presidential Secretariat

The official residence of the president is the President's House (formally the Queen's House as the residences of the Governor General) in Colombo. However the president's office is the Presidential Secretariat which is at the former Parliament building in Colombo, where many formal functions takes place. Other presidential residences include:

• the President's Pavilion, in Kandy, is a presidential residences used for (rare) state functions;
• the Queen's Cottage is the official presidential vacationing residence in the town of Nuwara Eliya.

In recent years from time to time Prime Minister's House, commonly referred to as Temple Tree's, which has been the official residence of the Prime Minister since 1948, has been used by presidents. In 2015 President Sirisena refuse to use Presidents House or the Temple Trees and use his former ministerial residence at Wijayarama Mawatha. The Temple Trees was given back to Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe where he use for official work only and resides at his private house in Colombo 7.

List of Presidents

Last election

First Executive President of Sri Lanka His Excellency J.R.Jayawardana

See also

• List of Presidents of Sri Lanka
• Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
• Presidential Secretariat
• President's Security Division
• President's Guard
• Official state car of President of Sri Lanka
• Air transports of Heads of Government of Sri Lanka

References

External links

• The official website of the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
• The official website of the Presidential Secretariat of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
• The official website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka - list of Heads of State

Presidents of Sri Lanka William Gopallawa Junius Richard Jayewardene Ranasinghe Premadasa Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Chandrika Kumaratunga Mahinda Rajapaksa Maithripala Sirisena