C ommo nwe a l t h memb e r c o u n t r i e s Government and politics Last elections: January 2010 (presidential), April 2010 (parliamentary) Next elections: 2016 (presidential and parliamentary) Head of State: President Mahinda Rajapaksa Head of Government: the President Ruling party: United People’s Freedom Alliance After a violent campaign in which at least 70 people died, in the parliamentary elections of October 2000, the ruling People’s Alliance (PA), led by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, won 107 of the 225 parliamentary seats, the United National Party (UNP) 89 and the Marxist Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) ten. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was reappointed Prime Minister. However, short of a working majority, the new government was dependent on the support of the smaller parties, and this diverted its attention from new peace initiatives and its economic reform programme. Parliamentary elections were held in December 2001 after the PA lost its majority in parliament. The UNP won 109 seats, the PA 77, JVP 16, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) 15 and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) five. With the support of the TNA and SLMC, the UNP commanded a majority in the National Assembly, and the President was obliged to appoint UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe Prime Minister and invite him to form a government. Thus, in due course, President Kumaratunga found herself chairing a cabinet composed entirely of political opponents. The new government was nevertheless determined to pursue the peace process. But as the end of the government’s first year in office approached (when the President had the power to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections), relations between the President and government became increasingly strained. However, both the President and Prime Minister remained committed to the peace process, and in 2002 the government signed a ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and invited Scandinavian countries, led by Norway, to monitor the truce. In November 2003, the week before the seventh round of peace talks was due to take place, the President dismissed three ministers, suspended parliament and first declared then lifted a state of emergency, calling for a government of national reconciliation, and plunging the country into political crisis. This endured until April 2004 when in a snap election the President’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) – a new alliance with the JVP – took 105 seats and 46 per cent of the votes, while the UNP won 82 seats and the Tamil National Alliance 22. President Kumaratunga formed a government and the UPFA’s Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as Prime Minister but, without an overall majority, they would be depending on the support of members of minority parties and any opposition members who crossed the floor. In the presidential election in November 2005, UPFA leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, with just over 50 per cent of the votes, defeated UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe. The overall turnout was 74 per cent, even though many Tamils boycotted the election in the LTTE-controlled areas in the north and east of the country. Almost two years before the expiry of his term of office, Rajapaksa called a presidential election in January 2010, when he faced a challenge from former head of the army General Sarath Fonseka, who had overseen the military victory against the LTTE that had been declared by the government in May 2009. In a poll with a 75 per cent voter turnout, Rajapaksa was returned to office with 57.9 per cent of the vote; Fonseka received 40.2 per cent of the vote, but contested the election result in the courts. A Commonwealth expert team was present during the election period. At the release of the team’s report, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said that ‘on the day of the election voters were free to express their will’, but shortcomings primarily in the pre-election period meant that overall the election ‘did not fully meet key benchmarks for democratic elections’. Two weeks after the presidential election, Fonseka was arrested and detained by the military police. A government spokesperson alleged he had been plotting a coup. In August 2010 he was convicted by court martial of participating in political activities while on active service and stripped of his rank, medals and pension. In September the court martial convicted him of arms procurement offences and he was required to resign the parliamentary seat he won in the April 2010 election. In the parliamentary elections of April 2010, the UPFA won 144 of 225 seats, securing 60.3 per cent of votes cast; the UNP took 60 seats (29.3 per cent); the Democratic National Alliance seven (5.5 per cent); and the Tamil National Alliance 14 (2.9 per cent). Local government Ministry: Local Government and Provincial Councils Association: Federation of Sri Lankan Local Government Authorities There are three spheres of government in Sri Lanka: national, provincial and local, as provided for by the 13th amendment to the constitution. Provincial government is provided for by the Provincial Councils Act 1987 and local government by the Urban Councils Ordinance 1939, the Municipal Councils Ordinance 1947 and the Pradeshiya Sabhas Act 1988, as well as the constitution. The Ministry of Local Government Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2013/14 276
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