| Prime Minister of Sri Lanka | |
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| ශ්රී ලංකා අග්රාමාත්ය இலங்கை பிரதமர் | |
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| Style |
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| Member of | |
| Reports to | |
| Residence | Temple Trees |
| Appointer | President of Sri Lanka |
| Term length | At the pleasure of the president
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| Constituting instrument | Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka |
| Precursor | Chief Secretary of Ceylon |
| Inaugural holder | Don Stephen Senanayake |
| Formation | 14 October 1947; 78 years ago (1947-10-14) |
| Succession | First |
| Website | Prime Minister's Office |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Sri Lanka |
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Theprime minister of Sri Lanka, officially theprime minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the second-highest ranking office in the executive branch of theGovernment of Sri Lanka, after thePresident of Sri Lanka, and ranks first in thepresidential line of succession. The prime minister is the most seniormember of parliament in thecabinet of ministers. The Cabinet is collectively held accountable toparliament for their policies and actions. The powers and functions of the prime minister has changed several times since the creation of the office in 1947.
Harini Amarasuriya is the 16th and current prime minister of Sri Lanka, serving since 24 September 2024.[1]
The president will appoint a member of parliament as prime minister, who, in the president's opinion, "is most likely to command the confidence of Parliament". The prime minister holds office throughout the period during which the cabinet of ministers continues to function under the provisions of the constitution, unless the prime minister resigns from the post or ceases to be a member of parliament.[2]
Under theSoulbury Constitution, the post of Prime Minister was created in 1947 as thehead of government of Ceylon in theWestminster system. In 1978, under the second amendment to theRepublican Constitution of 1972, much of the powers of the premiership were transferred to the executive presidency as head of government and head of the cabinet of ministers in addition to being thehead of state. As a result, the prime minister became a both senior member in the cabinet of ministers and a successor to the president. The prime minister would serve as the deputy to the president if both are from the same political party. On certain occasions, when the president is not from the majority party in parliament or a national government is formed, the prime minister would be appointed from a party different from the president's. In such a situation, the prime minister would serve as thede facto head of government.[2] In 2015, thenineteenth amendment restored a certain degree of powers to the premiership.
The prime minister is the second in theorder of precedence after the president. The prime minister would be a member of theconstitutional council,national security council and the most senior member of the cabinet of ministers.
By the constitution, the prime minister holds formal power toadvise the president on:
As per the constitution, if the office of president becomes vacant, the prime minister would "act in the office of President during the period between the occurrence of such vacancy and the assumption of office by the new president and shall appoint one of the other ministers of the Cabinet to act in the office of Prime Minister". In such a situation, if the office of Prime Minister is vacant or the prime minister is unable to act, theSpeaker of the Parliament shall act in the office of President instead.[2]
The president may appoint the prime minister to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of the office of President for a period during the president is unable to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of his office due to illness, absence from Sri Lanka or any other cause.[2]
Theofficial residence of the prime minister is thePrime Minister's House most commonly referred to asTemple Trees. The prime minister has the use of thePrime Minister's Lodge as a vacationing residence in the holiday-town ofNuwara Eliya. ThePrime Minister's Office is located in theSirimathipaya onSir Ernest de Silva Mawatha (formerly known as Flower Road) in Colombo.
In recent years,Temple Trees has also been used by some presidents of Sri Lanka, such asKumaratunga andRajapaksa, while some prime ministers such asWickremesinghe have chosen to stay at their own personal residences.
For ground travel, the prime minister uses theprime ministerial car, which is an armoredblackMercedes-Benz S-Class (S600) Pullman Guard. For domestic air travel, helicopters from theNo. 4 (VVIP/VIP) Helicopter Squadron of theSri Lanka Air Force are used while for long-distance travel, regular flights of theSriLankan Airlines are used.
Traditionally, security for the prime minister has been provided by theSri Lanka Police. After the establishment of the office of Prime Minister in 1948, asub inspector of the Ceylon Police Force had been assigned for personal protection of the prime minister, untilS. W. R. D. Bandaranaike dismissed his personal protection officer. During Bandaranaike'sassassination, only a lone police constable stood guard at the entrance of his residence. Following the assassination, successive prime ministers received a police guard headed by a sub-inspector. This was supplemented by the Army's Field Security Detachment following the1962 attempted coup d'état and during the1971 JVP insurrection.[3] Today, thePrime Minister's Security Division is in charge of security of the prime minister.
In theSri Lankan order of precedence, the prime minister is placed after thepresident, but before theSpeaker of the Parliament.
The post of Prime Minister of Ceylon was created in 1947 replacing the colonial post ofChief Secretary of Ceylon, as Ceylon gained self-rule with the formation of theDominion of Ceylon under the recommendations of theSoulbury Commission under theCeylon Independence Act, 1947 andThe Ceylon (Constitution and Independence) Orders in Council 1947.[4][5] TheD. S. Senanayake, the leader of the newly formedUnited National Party became the first Prime Minister. Carrying forward the scope of the former Chief Secretary, the Prime Minister retained the portfolios of External Affairs and Defence as theMinister of External Affairs and Defence.
In 1972, when Sri Lanka became a republic the name of the post changed to Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. With aWestminster-based political system established the prime minister was the head of government and therefore held the most powerful political office of the country at the time. This changed with a constitutional change in 1978, when the executive presidency was created, making the president bothhead of state andhead of government. Until 1978, the prime minister was also the minister of defence and external affairs. The prime minister is appointed by the president as a member of the cabinet of ministers. In the event that the office of the president is vacant, the prime minister becomes the acting president until Parliament convenes to elect a successor or new elections would be held to elect a new president. This was the case with H.E. PresidentDingiri Banda Wijetunge.UNP leaderRanil Wickremesinghe has served as prime minister on six occasions, while former UNP leaderDudley Senanayake and formerSri Lanka Freedom Party leaderSirimavo Bandaranaike were each appointed respectively four and three times to the position. With the passing of the19th amendment to the constitution in 2015, the prime minister was granted more powers when appointing ministers and leading the cabinet.
On 26 October 2018, former presidentMahinda Rajapaksa was appointed as the prime minister by presidentMaithripala Sirisena, dismissing incumbent prime ministerRanil Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe refused to accept the dismissal stating that it was unconstitutional, resulting in aconstitutional crisis.
On 3 December 2018, a court issued an interim order preventing Mahinda Rajapaksha from functioning in the position.[6] On 16 December 2018, Ranil Wickremesinghe was re-appointed as Prime Minister, ending the crisis.[7]
In March 2022,anti-government protests erupted in Sri Lanka in retaliation to the economic mismanagement of the country, which led to the island nation's worsteconomic crisis since independence.[8] Protesters blamed theRajapaksa family, one which had been dominating Sri Lankan politics for decades, for the economic instability of Sri Lanka. On 9 May 2022, prime ministerMahinda Rajapaksa submitted his letter of resignation amidst the protests.[9] Three days later, on 12 May 2022, presidentGotabaya Rajapaksa appointed veteran politicianRanil Wickremesinghe as prime minister.[10]
On 9 July 2022, protestors stormed thePresidential Secretariat, thePresident's official residence and set fire to prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghepersonal residence. This would lead to president Gotabaya Rajapaksa'sevacuation from Sri Lanka on 13 July 2022, and in his absence, appointed prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president under Article 37 (1) of Sri Lanka's constitution during his absence.[11][12] Rajapaksa formally resigned a day later, and Wickremesinghe was appointed asacting president.[13] On 20 July, Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected President of Sri Lanka by the Sri Lankan Parliament. Two days later, on 22 July, Wickremesinghe appointedDinesh Gunawardena as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.[14][15][16]
