Flag of the President of Sri Lanka

List of presidents

The following is a list of Sri Lankan Presidents. The President of Sri Lanka is elected under the Sri Lankan form of the Supplementary Vote. In Sri Lanka a system that may be considered a variant of the Supplementary Vote (SV) is used to elect the president. ...

• Satheeskumar Sivasubramaniyam & (May 22, 1972 - February 04, 1978)
• Kohulan Sam (February 04, 1978 - January 2, 1989)
• Rahul Sam (January 02, 1989 - May 01, 1993)
• Sivagiganeshan (May 01, 1993 - November 12, 1994)
• Kaakuuu (November 12, 1994 - November 19, 2005)
• Ajithkumar (November 19, 2005; incumbent)

May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Tuesday. ... February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII in Roman) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII in Roman) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 2 is the 2nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV in Roman) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV in Roman) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Last election

==Sri Lanka's Executive Presidency In Sri Lanka, Executive Presidency is an extremely powerful executive post. Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (born November 18, 1945), Sri Lankan politician, became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on April 6, 2004, following the victory of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance in the April 2, 2004 Sri Lankan legislative elections. ... UPFA election symbol The United Peoples Freedom Alliance is a political alliance in Sri Lanka. ... Ranil Wickremesinghe was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka during 1993-1994, and 2001-2004 Ranil Shriyan Wickremasinghe (born March 24, 1949) is a popular Sri Lankan politician. ... The United National Party (UNP, Sinhalese:(pronounced Eksath Jathika Pakshaya), Tamil: ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி) is a political party in Sri Lanka. ... Siritunga Jayasuriya was a contestant in the Sri Lanka presidential election in 2005. ... The United Socialist Party (USP) is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. ... Victor Hettigoda is a candidate for the November 17, 2005 Sri Lankan Presidential Elections. ... The New Left Front is a left wing electoral coalition in Sri Lanka. ... The Socialist Equality Party is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. ...

• Under Sri Lankan Constitution the Executive President cannot be held accountable on any circumstances for his/her actions.
• The President cannot be taking to court.
• The President can unilaterally dissolve the country's Parliament at any time after one year of its formation.

"Of all the Executive Presidencies in the world, Sri Lanka's is the most powerful, even more than the United States' or the French Presidency," says Rohan Edirisinghe international law expert of Colombo University's Law Faculty. President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... Insert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text here:This article is about the legislative institution. ...

Under emergency powers vested in the office, the President can also take steps overriding any law passed by Parliament. Though the emergency motion has to come before Parliament every 30 days for extension, once it is passed, the President can promulgate any regulation under emergency laws during that month without reference to Parliament.

Many sections of Sri Lankan opinion want an abolition of their presidency which is seen as autocratic and concentrating too much power in one individual.

Evidence of the temptation such powers can be to an incumbent, that Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who had vowed to abolish the office within a year of coming to power in 1994, seeked a second term. Mrs. ...

While contesting for a second term, Kumaratunga again promised to abolish the Presidency as part of her package of constitutional reforms. However, her main opponent Ranil Wickremesinghe said he favours a reformed Executive Presidency accountable to Parliament and short of its immunity. The justification then was that for stability and accelerated development, the country required a strong executive, freed from the whims of legislature. Especially in an ethnically diverse country like Sri Lanka there has been instances of unstable legislature due to no party gaining outright majority and thus unable to perform governement duties.

Three others have held the post since Jayewardene's retirement in 1988. Ranasinghe Premadasa was elected that year, and on his assassination in 1993, Dingiri Banda Wijetunge, who was then Prime Minister, succeeded him. The next year saw the election of Chandrika Kumaratunga. 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII in Roman) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Dingiri Banda Wijetunge (born 1922) was the governor of North Western province, Sri Lanka from 1988 to 1989, prime minister of Sri Lanka from 3 March 1989 to 7 May 1993 and President of Sri Lanka from 1 May 1993 to 12 November 1994. ... Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister A Prime Minister is a politician who serves as the head of the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ...

Of the four, analysts see Premadasa and Kumaratunga as the "most Presidential". Jayawardene, with a strong tradition of Parliament behind him, formed a powerful cabinet and relied on it even though he did not need to. But not so Kumaratunga or Premadasa.

Unlike other Executive Presidencies, the Sri Lankan President can function as a Cabinet Minister. Kumaratunga held the Finance and Defence portfolios but in five years, was not answerable to Parliament on either subject. The incumbent President Rajapakse holds Finance and Planning, Defence, as well as Religious Affairs. President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ...

By extension, the cabinet itself is not as powerful as the Presidential Secretariat. For instance, during President Ranasinghe Premadasa's time, his Adviser Bradman Weerakoon was the de facto Foreign Minister though Harold Herath actually held the portfolio.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19991216/iin16015.html Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

See also

• Sri Lanka
• Mahinda Rajapaksa

Percy Mahendra Mahinda Rajapaksa (born November 18, 1945) is the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and a Sri Lankan politician. ...

External links

• Sri Lankan President's Official Web Site