Political System

Presidential and parliamentary elections are held at six-and five-year intervals. Parliamentary elections are due in Oct 2010.

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has an executive presidency based on the French model.

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The president is the head of state with executive powers. Elected for a period of six years by universal adult suffrage, the president may dissolve Parliament.

The national legislature is unicameral: 225 members are directly elected for five years by a system of modified proportional representation.

Local government: Under the 13th amendment to the Constitution, passed in November 1987, extensive powers have been devolved to nine directly elected provincial councils, primarily with a view to meeting Tamil demands for greater autonomy.

National elections: Presidential and parliamentary elections are held at six-and five-year intervals respectively. Parliamentary elections are due in October 2010.

Present status: Mahinda Rajapaksa won the term in office as President in December 2005, and represents former President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Rajapaksa secured a little over 50 per cent of the popular vote against main opposition rival Ranil Wickramasinghe of the United National Party (UNP).

With the support of 39 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MPs and 9 of the 10 Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) MPs, the UPFA government has a parliamentary majority. The SLFP has only 60 parliamentarians. The remaining 10 come from UPFA coalition partners.

Governing coalition: The UPFA, made up of National Unity Alliance, Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) and the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP).

Main opposition parties: The UNP, the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Armed opposition: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, Tamil Tigers).