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18-715: The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission ( SLMM ) was a multinational body that existed from 2002 to 2008 to monitor the ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers ) during the Sri Lankan Civil War . The SLMM was established on 22 February 2002 to monitor the ceasefire and investigate reported violations of the ceasefire agreement. Mission members were drawn primarily from

36-477: Is that the party that receives the largest number of valid votes in each constituency gains a unique "bonus seat" ( see Hickman, 1999). Since its independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the country. It is set out in the constitution, which defines courts as independent institutions within

54-580: The Sri Lankan Constitution . It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital of Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte . The Constitution of Sri Lanka has been the constitution of the island nation of Sri Lanka since its original promulgation by the National State Assembly on 7 September 1978. It is Sri Lanka's second republican constitution and its third constitution since

72-581: The Norwegian government. SLMM chief had admitted to then US Ambassador that the SLMM in fact caused the events that allowed the LTTE to evade apprehension by Sri Lanka Navy . Government of Sri Lanka [REDACTED] The Government of Sri Lanka ( GoSL ) ( Sinhala : ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය , romanized:  Śrī Lankā Rajaya ; Tamil : இலங்கை அரசாங்கம் ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by

90-538: The SLMM was also duly notified. SLMM immediately contacted the Tigers and inquired whether one of their arms resupply ships were operating off the northeastern coast foiling the plan of the Navy to intercept the vessel. The arms resupply vessel escaped from Sri Lankan waters, out of the reach of the navy. After this incident, then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga requested to remove SLMM chief Tryggve Tellefsen of

108-675: The Scandinavian countries Norway , Sweden , Finland , Denmark , and Iceland . Following the cancellation of the ceasefire agreement the SLMM ceased operations on 16 January 2008. SLMM had its headquarters in Colombo , six district offices in the North and East of Sri Lanka and a liaison office in the LTTE stronghold Kilinochchi . Naval monitoring teams were based in Jaffna and Trincomalee. The SLMM also operated mobile patrol units. Until

126-409: The cabinet and appoint a new one at any time. The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a six-year term, 196 members elected in multi-seat constituencies and 29 by proportional representation . The President may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve Parliament any time after it has served for one year. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws. The primary modification

144-482: The ceasefire agreement, mediating between the parties and supplying factual information to the international sponsors of the peace process. Leaked diplomatic cables revealed that SLMM caused the gunrunning vessel of the LTTE to evade capture by the Sri Lanka Navy . In 2003 Sri Lankan intelligence identified a LTTE arms re-supply vessel and prepared to intercept it. Because of the ceasefire agreement in place

162-630: The contingent vote . Responsible to Parliament for the exercise of duties under the constitution and laws, the president may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of Parliament with the concurrence of the Supreme Court. The President appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers responsible to Parliament. The president's deputy is the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka , who leads the ruling party in Parliament. The President can dissolve

180-545: The country's independence (as Ceylon) in 1948, after the Donoughmore Constitution , Soulbury Constitution , and Constitution of 1972 . As of October 2020, it has been formally amended 21 times. The President, directly elected for a five-year term, is head of state , head of government , chief executive , and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The election occurs under the Sri Lankan form of

198-496: The end of August 2006 the SLMM had approximately 60 staff and was headed by the Swedish Senior Colonel Ulf Henricsson . On 8 June 2006 the LTTE objected to the formal engagement of citizens of European Union states in the SLMM, arguing that it was questionable whether citizens of countries which had banned the LTTE would be sufficiently impartial to be able to adjudicate critical matters on

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216-483: The ground. As a result, about 40 Swedish, Finnish and Danish nationals were withdrawn from the SLMM from 1 September 2006, reducing its staff to about 20 Icelandic and Norwegian nationals and transferring command to Norwegian Major General Lars Johan Sølvberg. Parties on both sides of the conflict accused the Mission of impartiality and appeasement of the other side. The SLMM regarded its role as documenting violations of

234-404: The national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a five-year term, and 196 members elected in multi-seat constituencies through a proportional representation system where each party is allocated a number of seats from the quota for each district according to the proportion of

252-556: The socialist Sydney Webb , who was briefly Secretary of State for the Colonies in the Labour minority government of 1929-31. He appointed Commissioners who he knew shared his desire for an equitable and socialist British Empire and they in turn came up with a constitutional arrangement for Sri Lanka, which would ensure that every community in the island had a chance of for power and prosperity. This Sri Lankan history -related article

270-468: The total vote that the party obtains in the district. Donoughmore Constitution It was a significant development. First, it was the only constitution in the British Empire (outside Dominions of Australia , South Africa and Canada ) enabling general elections with adult universal suffrage . For the first time, a "dependent", non-caucasian country within the empires of Western Europe

288-627: The traditional framework of checks and balances . The Sri Lankan courts are presided over by professional judges , judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President with the nomination of the Parliamentary Council , others by the Judicial Service Commission . Sri Lanka has a legal system which is an amalgam of English common law , Roman-Dutch civil law and Customary Law . Sri Lanka elects on

306-505: Was given one-person, one-vote and the power to control domestic affairs. Here was the pilot project whose success would ensure freedom from colonial rule for whole swathes of Asia , Africa and the Caribbean . Secondly, it created a committee system of government specifically to address the multi-ethnic problems of Sri Lanka. Under this system, no one ethnic community could dominate the political arena. Instead, every government department

324-568: Was overseen by a committee of parliamentarians drawn from all the ethnic communities. This created a built-in series of checks and balances, leading to continual ' pork-barrelling ' and 'log-rolling', in which every ethnic group gained something. Consensual politics was thereby forced on Sri Lanka's reluctant political activists. Power and funding followed those with the ability to maximise broadbased multi-ethnic support: negotiators and peacemakers were therefore elevated above demagogues and warmongers. The Donoughmore Commissioners had been appointed by

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