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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1947 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Sri Lanka |
| Headquarters | Sirimathipaya,Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha,Colombo |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | Official website |
ThePrime Minister's Office is aministry of theGovernment of Sri Lanka. It provides the administrative and institutional framework for the exercise of the duties and responsibilities vested in thePrime Minister of Sri Lanka. From 1947 to 1978 it was the most powerful office within the government. However, after the creation of the executive presidency in 1978 the post of Prime Minister became more or less nominal and functions as a deputy to thePresident, with a few exceptions.
With the establishment of the post of Prime Minister of Ceylon in 1947, under theSoulbury Commission, the first prime minister,D. S. Senanayake took the portfolio ofExternal Affairs and Defence. The early Prime Minister's Office was located atSenate Square consisting of a working office room of the Prime Minister, along with rooms of the Prime Minister's Secretary (Permanent Secretary rank), Assistant Secretary (from theCeylon Civil Service), a Private Secretary, along with clerical and support staff. TheMinistry of External Affairs and Defence was also located at Senate Square, along with theCabinet office and theSenate of Ceylon. Some Prime Minister's preferred to work from their official residenceTemple Trees or from their personal residence. Per theWestminster tradition, the prime minister had an office at theParliament too.[2]
With the1978 Constitution, the president became both head of state and government. The first prime minister in the new capacity,Ranasinghe Premadasa set about defining the new role of the prime minister. He established the Prime Minister's Office at theSirimathipaya Mansion in 1978, which houses the office of the Prime Minister's Secretary and Secretariat.
TheLTTE carried out asuicide bombing at the Prime Minister's Office, on January 5, 2000 in an assassination attempt when afemale suicide bomber detonated the bomb outside the Prime Minister's Office, killing 13 civilians and three police officers attached to thePMSD.
On 13 July 2022, during the2022 Sri Lankan protests, thousands of protesters stormed and occupied the Prime Minister's Office, after thePresident's House, thePresidential Secretariat andTemple Trees been stormed and occupied on the 9 July 2022 demanding that both presidentGotabaya Rajapaksa and prime ministerRanil Wickremesinghe resign immediately.[3]
| International | |
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| National | |
