Member of Cabinet Residence Temple Trees Term length Five years | Reports to Parliament Appointer President of Sri Lanka | |
 | ||
Style Mr. Prime Minister
(Informal)
The Honourable
(Formal and diplomatic) | ||
The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhalese: ශ්රී ලංකා අග්රාමාත්ය Sri Lanka Agramathya; Tamil: இலங்கை பிரதமர்) is the leader of the cabinet business in Sri Lanka. However, the President is both head of state and head of government in Sri Lanka.
Contents
History
The post of Prime Minister of Ceylon was created in 1947 prior to independence from Britain and the formation of the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. United National Party leader D. S. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Then Ceylon in 1947 after independence. In 1972 when Sri Lanka became a republic the name of the post changed to Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. With a Westminster-based political system established the Prime Minister was the head of government therefore held the most powerful political office of the country at the time. This changed with a constitutional change in 1978, when the Executive Presidency was created, making the President both head of state and head of government. Until 1978 the Prime minister was also the Minister of Defence and External Affairs. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President as a member of the cabinet of ministers. In the event the post president is vacant, the Prime Minister becomes the acting president until Parliament convenes to elect a successor or new elections could be held to elect a new president. This was the case with H.E. President Dingiri Banda Wijetunge. United National Party leaders Dudley Senanayake and Ranil Wickramasinghe together with Sri Lanka Freedom Party leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike was appointed three times to the position. With passing of the 19th amendment to the constitution in 2015, the prime minister was granted more powers when appointing ministers and leading the cabinet.
The current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is Ranil Wickremesinghe, he was appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena on 9 January 2015. This was the third time that Wickramasinghe was appointed Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
Official residence and office
The official residence of the prime minister is the Prime Minister's House most commonly referred to as Temple Trees. The Prime Minister's Office is located on Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha (formerly known as Flower Road) in Colombo.