Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ශ්රී ලංකා ප්රජාතාන්ත්රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව இலங்கை சனநாயக சோசலிச குடியரசின் நாடாளுமன்றம் | |
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| 17th Parliament | |
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| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 7 September 1978 |
| Preceded by | National State Assembly |
| Leadership | |
Kushani Rohanadeera since 23 May 2023 | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 225 |
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Political groups | Government (159)
Opposition (66) |
Length of term | 5 years |
| Elections | |
| Open list proportional representation | |
Last election | 14 November 2024 |
Next election | By 21 February 2030 |
| Meeting place | |
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| Sri Lankan Parliament Complex Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Sri Lanka | |
| Website | |
| www | |
| Constitution | |
| Constitution of Sri Lanka | |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Sri Lanka |
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TheParliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවŚrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā, Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம்Ilaṅkai nāṭāḷumaṉṟam) is the supremelegislative body ofSri Lanka. It alone possesseslegislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the island.[1][2] It is modelled after theBritish Parliament. The17th Parliament of Sri Lanka convened for the first time on 21 November 2024.[3]
It consists of 225 members known asMembers of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected byproportional representation for five-year terms, withuniversal suffrage.
ThePresident of Sri Lanka has the power to summon, suspend,prorogue, or terminate a legislative session and todissolve the Parliament. The President can dissolve Parliament only after the lapse of2+1⁄2 years or if a2⁄3 majority of the Members of Parliament requests dissolution. The action of the president to either suspend or dissolve the Parliament is subject to legal scrutiny of theSupreme Court of Sri Lanka. TheSpeaker or, in his absence, theDeputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees or the Deputy Chairman of Committees, presides over Parliament.
The Standing Orders of Parliament are the agreed rules under which procedure, debate, and the conduct of Members in the House are regulated. It defines the procedure for the functioning of Parliament, thus becoming an important source of Parliamentary Procedure. Standing Orders have the status of rules under the Constitution, and date back to the first set of Standing Orders adopted by theLegislative Council of Ceylon in 1912, based those of theParliament of the United Kingdom. These have been changed multiple times and the current set of Standing Orders dates back to 1979.[4]
Following theWestminster model, all legislation in Sri Lanka must be passed by the Parliament to become law and it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government. Parliament's ability to make laws, includes those that have retrospective effect and repealing or amending any provision of the Constitution, or adding any provision to the Constitution. Government ministers must regularly answer questions in Parliament and there are a number ofselect committees which scrutinise particular issues and the workings of the government.[4]
Under the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act, Parliament and its members are entitled to legal immunity to ensurefreedom of speech, freedom from arrest on civil matters and ensure publication of the reports, papers, minutes, votes or proceedings of Parliament. In addition to the privileges laid out in the act, Parliament and its members are entitled to the sameparliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom. Parliament and any committee can summon any person or request any record or document to be produced before Parliament or the committee.[5]
The first legislature established in Ceylon was theExecutive Council and the legislative council, which were established on 13 March 1833 according to the recommendations of the Colebrook-Cameron commission. TheExecutive Council was composed of the Colonial Secretary, the officer commanding the Military Forces, the Attorney General, the Auditor-General and the Treasurer. The duties of the council were advisory and theGovernor of Ceylon, who presided over their meetings and consulted them, was at liberty to disregard their advice. At first it was made up of only British officials but later included native citizens. At the beginning 16, and later 49 members, were elected for the legislative council, but a limited number of people were qualified to vote.
In 1931 the Legislative Council was dissolved and in its place a more powerfulState Council of Ceylon was established, with 50 out of its 61 members elected byuniversal adult franchise as provided by theDonoughmore Constitution.
Prior to the granting of independence and the establishment of the Dominion of Ceylon on 4 February 1948, a new bicameral parliament was established in 1947, according to the recommendations of theSoulbury Commission after the State Council was dissolved. It was based on theWestminster model with an upper house, theSenate, whose members were appointed and a lower house of parliament, the House of Representatives, whose members were directly elected. The House of Representatives consisted of 101 members where 95 members were elected byFirst-past-the-post, where the remaining 6 members were directly appointed. By a Delimitation commission, the Seats in the House of Representatives was increased to 151 in 1960. The Senate consisted of 30 members, 15 of whom were appointed proportional to the Party representation of the House of Representatives and 15 nominated by theGovernor-General of Ceylon on the advice of thePrime Minister. Senators were appointed for a term of 6 years and they were divided to 3 cycles where 1/3 of the Senate is up for election once in 2 years.
The Senate was abolished on 2 October 1971. On 22 May 1972, when the1st Republican constitution was enacted, the House of Representatives was replaced with theNational State Assembly, which had 168 elected members. This was then replaced by the Parliament of Sri Lanka, when the currentConstitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was enacted on 7 September 1978.
Initially, the Creators of the 2nd Republican Constitution of 1978 introduced a Unicameral Parliament consisting of 196 members; all elected byProportional Representation from 22 electoral districts. But the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was passed on 24 May 1988, increased the number of seats of the Parliament up to 225, by adding 29 seats where the members were appoint by the National list.
In 1987, agrenade was lobbed into a conference room inside the Parliament complex where government MPs were meeting. Two people were killed and sixteen were injured, but the target of the attack, PresidentJ. R. Jayawardene escaped unharmed. TheMarxist–LeninistJanatha Vimukthi Peramuna claimed responsibility for the attack.
In 2015, following theparliamentary election, the two major parties of Sri Lanka (theUnited National Party andSri Lanka Freedom Party) signed amemorandum of understanding to form anational unity government, in an attempt to address and rectify major unresolved issues following the end of the country's 26-year longethnic conflict.[6][7] This was the first time in Sri Lanka's political history that the two major parties agreed to work together in a joint government.[8] UNP LeaderRanil Wickremesinghe, whose party won the most seats, was appointed prime minister, and the joint government lasted until2018.
Of the 225 members of parliament, 196 are elected from22 electoral districts, which aremulti-member. The remaining 29 MPs areelected from National Lists allocated to theparties (andindependent groups) in proportion to their share of the national vote.
When Parliament first meets after a general election, it will elect three members to serve as theSpeaker,Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees (known simply as theDeputy Speaker) and theDeputy Chairman of Committees. Whilst presiding, the Speaker or Deputy Speaker wears ceremonial dress.
The Parliament Secretariat, headed by the Secretary General of Parliament (from 1978.09.07 to date), is in charge of all its administrative duties. Until 1978, September 06, the post was known asClerk of Parliament. The Secretary General is appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Constitutional Council. TheSergeant-at-Arms is responsible for the maintenance of law, order, and security on the House's premises and acts also as master-of-ceremonies. The Serjeant-at-Arms carries theceremonial mace, a symbol of the authority of the People and of the Parliament, into the House each day in front of the Speaker, and the Mace is laid upon theTable of the House during sittings. Currently, the parliament secretariat administration is divided into nine departments.
These departments are:
The Staff Advisory Committee (SAC) established under the Parliamentary Staff Act provides advice and guidance to the Parliamentary Secretariat with respect to matters concerning Parliamentary staff. The SAC consists of the Speaker (Chairman), the Leader of the House, the Minister of Finance and the Leader of the Opposition. Secretariat maintains theSpeaker's Residence and theMadiwela Housing Complex for MPs and the nineteen-roomed holidaybungalow for MPs,General's House inNuwara Eliya. Parliament also ownsMumtaz Mahal which was the former residence of the Speaker andSrawasthi Mandiraya the former hostel for MPs. These are now used by other government entities.
Under the British Colonial government, when theExecutive Council and the legislative councils were set up in 1833, they met in a building opposite Gordon Gardens, which is now the "Republic Building", occupied by theMinistry of Foreign Affairs. On 29 January 1930 the British Governor ofCeylon, SirHerbert Stanley (1927–1931), opened what is now theOld Parliament Building fronting the ocean at Galle Face, Colombo, designed for meetings of the Legislative Council. It was subsequently used by the State Council (1931–1947), the House of Representatives (1947–1972), the National State Assembly (1972–1977) and the Parliament of Sri Lanka (1977–1982). Today, the Old Parliament Building is used by thePresidential Secretariat.
In 1967 under SpeakerAlbert F. Peris, the leaders of the political parties unanimously resolved that a new Parliament building be constructed on the opposite side ofBeira Lake from the existing Parliament at Galle Face, but no further action was taken. WhileStanley Tillekeratne was the Speaker (1970–1977), the leaders of the political parties entrusted the drawing up of plans for a new Parliament building to architects, but the project was subsequently abandoned.
On 4 July 1979, Prime MinisterRanasinghe Premadasa obtained sanction from Parliament to construct anew Parliament Building atDuwa, a 5 hectare (12 acre) island in theDiyawanna Oya (off Baddegana Road, PitaSri Jayawardenepura Kotte), about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) east ofColombo. The island was where the palace of theKing Vikramabahu III's powerful chief minister Nissaka Alakesvara had been constructed in 1369. It had belonged toE. W. Perera prior to being vested in the state.
The building was designed by architectDeshamanyaGeoffrey Bawa and built with Sri Lankan funds. On 29 April 1982, the new Parliamentary Complex was declared open by PresidentJ. R. Jayewardene.
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