PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
SRI LANKA
NEW PRESIDENT PLEDGES TO SCALE BACK EXECUTIVE POWERS AND BOOST ROLE OF PARLIAMENT
The seventh presidential election of Sri Lanka in January ended the ten years of the ruling government, with the victor pledging to reduce the powers of the presidency and to strengthen the role of the country’s Parliament . The former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had prompted the election two years before the expiration of his term, declaring his intention to hold his office for a further term. Nineteen candidates
contested the ensuing national poll, held on 8 January. Mahinda Rajapaksa stood from the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) which was also the previous ruling party. Maithripala Sirisena, the minister of health in that government broke away from the UPFA, and was chosen as the Common Candidate to contest from a new political party named New Democratic Front (NDF), of which the United National Party (UNP) is a main constituent. After receiving 51.28% of the
votes cast, Maithripala Sirisena was elected as the sixth Executive President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The former president received 47.58% of the vote. And only just over 1% of voters chose other parties. The turnout of more than
80% was a significant factor. Pre- and post-election violence was regarded as minimal and local and international observers affirmed that the election was conducted peacefully.
46| The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue One
His Excellency the President Maithripala Sirisena
For the past few decades,
removal of the Executive Presidency had been a popular election vow that, due to various reasons, none of the elected presidents could accomplish. The powers of the Executive Presidency were even strengthen by the 18th Amendment to the Constitution in 2010. The establishment of a common opposition party was motivated by a desire to reduce the powers of the Executive President. The Common Opposition was led by the UNP
party, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) – which was then a constituent of the UPFA – and several members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which is the main constituent of UPFA, and also the party of the presidential candidate. The opposition’s election manifesto, ‘A Compassionate Maithri Governance – A Stable Country’, contained a 100-day programme aimed at abolishing the Executive Presidential system with its unlimited powers. Other key election promises were to amend the electoral system and establish a mechanism to supervise good governance, while reducing the unnecessary expenditure of the then government and ensuring what was spent would percolate further through the general population. Maithripala Sirisena had
started his political career as a member of the SLFP youth organization in 1967. He joined mainstream politics in 1989 and has held several ministerial portfolios since 1994. He is the longest serving General Secretary of the SLFP.
The Prime Minister the Hon. Ranil Wickremasinghe
He was serving as the Minister of Health when he was chosen as the Common Candidate for the election. As Minister of Health he had taken steps to re-introduce the Senka Bibile Drug Policy Act, with the aim of having a national drug policy for the nation. He also fought to introduce warning pictures on tobacco and cigarette packaging to make people aware of the effects of smoking.
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