Politics of Colombo

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In 1956, S. Bandaranaike, riding on a wave of Sinhalese nationalism, became the country's leader. He put together a constitution which did not give all ethnic groups of Sri Lanka equal representation. Between 1983 to 2009, therefore, Sri Lanka was caught up in a civil war caused due to ethnic strife. Many were killed.

Thereafter, even though the civil unrest came to a halt, several other political upheavals followed, which had to be surmounted.

Politics in Sri Lanka

The Constitution adopted in 1978 declared Sri Lanka to be a democratic republic, with all executive powers residing with the President. The parliamentary and presidential elections, based on a system of universal adult franchise, occur according to a six-year cycle.

The Sri Lankan Parliament is unicameral and has 225 members who are voted in directly. The Cabinet ministers and the independent judiciary, are appointed by the President. The Constitution is an amendable one, with changes being brought about after a two-thirds Parliamentary majority or a people's referendum, if need be.

The current President of Sri Lanka is Mr Maithripala Sirisena, the sixth to hold this post. He is a senior member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and heads a coalition government, the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA). Earlier, the Health Ministry had been under his charge.

The major political parties of Sri Lanka are:

  • Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP)
  • Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK)
  • Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)
  • Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC)
  • United National Party (UNP)
  • United People's Freedom Alliance(UPFA)

Politics of Colombo

The city has a municipal council which is the local governing body. It is headed by a mayor who is directly elected. This body is responsible for looking after the city's sanitation, roads maintenance, recreational facilities, etc.

Any information that is required pertaining to the city's services and for information about its town hall, can be found at: http://colombo.mc.gov.lk/contact-us.php. At this site, the services are listed and if needed, you can connect with them about any special query, issue, or information which you might need. To give you a brief idea, this site has a list of schools & pre-schools, about animals & pets, maps of colombo, etc.

Update 22/07/2018

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