Elections in Sri Lanka
Elections in Sri Lanka take place, as in most countries of the world, on several political levels - on the one hand at the municipal level, on the other hand at the level of the provinces of Sri Lanka and the third at the national level for the parliament and for the presidency. In the following, the mode of presidential elections, provincial council elections and parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka is explained and a brief historical overview is given. The still valid today in Sri Lanka electoral system was by the Constitution of 1978, which over the years by several constitutional amendments ( amendments set was supplemented).
Elections in the British colony of Ceylon
The first nationwide elections took place in what was then the British colony of Ceylon in 1911. Four of the 21 members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon , the "Legislative Council of Ceylon", were elected for the first time. Eleven members of the Legislative Council were senior British colonial officials, including the governor of the colony. Six other members were appointed by the governor - two Sinhalese from the coastal country, one Sinhalese from the Kandy mountains , two Tamils and one Muslim (a member of the Moors ). Of the four elected representatives, two were from the Europeans residing in Ceylon, one from the Burgher and one from the rest of the Ceylonese population. In total, only 2,938 Ceylonese (including 1,659 Sinhalese, 1,072 Tamils) were eligible to vote, as the right to vote was linked to certain conditions, such as material property and level of education. As the first elected representative of the autochthonous Ceylonese population, Tamile P. Ramanathan entered the Legislative Council .
The next elections to the Legislative Council then took place in 1916, 1921 and 1924. Under pressure from the Ceylonese autonomy and later independence movement, the right to vote was gradually expanded.
In 1920 the number of members of the Legislative Council was increased to 37 (?), Of which 19 were elected (5 by the Europeans, 2 by the Burghern, one as a representative of the Chamber of Commerce of Ceylon and the remaining 11 distributed in the then 9 provinces of Ceylon ). Another reform followed in 1923. The council now consisted of 49 members, 29 of whom were elected, three by the Europeans, two by the Burgher and one Tamil in the western province. The remaining 23 members were elected in the provinces. Since the Sinhalese and Tamil majority population did not see themselves adequately and fairly represented, a commission under the liberal Lord Donoughmore was finally sent to Ceylon from England , which arrived there in 1927. After a number of on-site hearings, the Donoughmore Commission presented its recommendations to the British House of Commons in July 1928. These were largely. She recommended the replacement of the Legislative Coucil by a fully elected State Council of Ceylon ("Ceylonese State Council"). Among other things, she also recommended the introduction of universal suffrage and also the introduction of universal women's suffrage from the age of 21, at a time when the minimum voting age for women in Great Britain was still 28. These proposals often went too far even for Tamil and Sinhalese leaders who were striving for more representation and who were reluctant to grant women or lower castes the right to vote. The opening of the first State Council of Ceylon on July 7, 1931 was therefore largely boycotted by the political leaders, especially the Tamils.
The Indian Tamils who worked as migrant workers on the plantations were not given the right to vote in the State Council . After a short time, the Tamil and Sinhalese politicians recognized the possibilities of the new State Council and took an active part in it. The State Council consisted of 58 members who were elected by general election by the Ceylon population. In addition to legislative duties, the State Council also elected committees that had executive powers. The Donoughmore Commission had attached particular importance to the fact that Tamils and Sinhalese had to be represented equally in these committees. Each committee had a ministerial chairman. In addition to the post of governor, the British colonial power reserved the appointment of ministers for defense, justice and foreign relations. After 1931 there was only one other election to the State Council in 1936. No elections were held during World War II 1939-1945, so the State Council elected in 1936 remained in office until 1947. The next election took place in 1947, with the State Council already being referred to as "Parliament". Sri Lanka was given Dominion status and was officially granted independence in 1948.
After independence in 1948
The first two constitutions of 1948 and 1972
The first constitution of independent Ceylon (the country name was not changed until 1972 in Sri Lanka ) was strongly based on the British Westminster model . There was a bicameral parliament, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives initially consisted of 101, and from 1960 onwards of 157 members, who were elected in individual constituencies according to the relative majority voting system, also based on the British model.
The new constitution from 1972 transformed Ceylon into a republic under the new name Sri Lanka . The Senate was abolished and the House of Representatives, now called the National State Assembly , consisted of 168 elected members. Instead of the British monarch , who had previously been the official head of state, there was a president, who for the most part only exercised representative functions. The business of government was carried out by the Prime Minister, who was elected by Parliament and could also be recalled by it.
The third constitution from 1978
In 1978 a new constitution came into force for Sri Lanka, which is essentially still valid today. The Westminster-style parliamentary system was replaced by a presidential system. The role of the president has been significantly strengthened along the lines of the French presidential constitution. The president was now directly elected independently of parliament, appointed the government and indirectly conducted government affairs through a prime minister appointed by him who was not directly responsible to parliament (“executive presidency”). With the 19th amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution, which came into force in 2015, the powers of the president were again significantly restricted in favor of the prime minister.
Parliamentary election mode
In the election of parliament, the 1978 constitution replaced the previous majority vote in individual constituencies with proportional representation in multi-person constituencies. For this purpose, the country was divided into 22 electoral districts . In each constituency a number of members corresponding to the size of the population is elected according to proportional representation. The total number of MPs elected in this way is 196. The constituencies are divided into 160 polling divisions , which, however, only have an administrative function. The 160 electoral districts are therefore not constituencies. The constitution (Section 96 (1)) restricts the number of constituencies to a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 24 initially, and later 25 (according to the 7th amendment to the Constitution of October 4, 1983). The determination of the constituency boundaries is the responsibility of a delimitation commission, which meets at irregular intervals . This commission was last appointed on November 29, 1978 and published its resolutions on January 15, 1981. The first election held on the basis of this constituency was the 1989 election . The constituency boundaries have remained unchanged since then.
The election in constituencies ensures that the different parts of the country are proportionally represented in parliament, which is not necessarily the case with a voting right with national party lists. There is a 5 percent threshold clause in each constituency , i. H. Parties with less than 5% of the vote are not taken into account in the distribution of seats in the constituency. In the constitution of 1978 (Section 99 (5)) even a threshold clause of 12.5% was prescribed, but this was reduced to 5% by the 15th amendment to the constitution of December 17, 1988. In addition, the right to vote in multi-person constituencies also acts like a kind of blocking clause . The constituencies each elect between 4 and 19 members. In order to be elected in a 10-member constituency, for example, a candidate must theoretically collect approximately 1/10 = 10% of the votes; in constituencies with, for example, only 5 members, it is 1/5 = 20%. This puts smaller parties at a disadvantage. In order to mitigate this effect somewhat, the 14th amendment to the Constitution, which came into force on May 24, 1988, introduced the election of a further 29 MPs at the national level according to proportional representation. This right to vote has favored the formation of large party alliances such as the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) or the United National Front (UNF). In these alliances, which formally appear as one party in elections, several parties are then represented. In this way, smaller parties can circumvent the threshold clause.
Since 1988, Parliament has consisted of 196 elected constituencies and 29 nationally elected members, for a total of 225 members. The parliamentary term of office is 6 years. Also since 1988, voters have been able to cast up to three preferences on the ballot paper for the party they have elected ( priority voting right , i.e. for the candidate first, second and third preference). This makes it possible for candidates to win the race at the bottom of the party list if they are preferred by the voters. When counting the votes, the seat share of the respective party is determined first and then the preference votes of the voters are evaluated. A side effect of this right to vote is that the ballot papers are often too long.
| Constituency | General election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 1994 | 2000 | 2001 | 2004 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 | |
| Digamadulla | 6th | 6th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th |
| Anuradhapura | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Badulla | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th |
| Batticaloa | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Colombo | 20th | 20th | 20th | 21st | 20th | 19th | 19th | 19th |
| bile | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Gampaha | 17th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 17th | 18th | 18th | 18th |
| Hambantota | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th |
| Jaffna | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7th | 7th |
| Kalutara | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Mahanuwara | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Kegalle | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Kurunegala | 15th | 15th | 15th | 15th | 16 | 15th | 15th | 15th |
| Matale | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Matara | 9 | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 7th |
| Moneragala | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6th |
| Nuwara Eliya | 6th | 8th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 8th | 8th |
| Polonnaruwa | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Puttalam | 7th | 7th | 8th | 7th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th |
| Ratnapura | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Trincomalee | 4th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 4th |
| Vanni | 5 | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th |
| total | 196 | 196 | 196 | 196 | 196 | 196 | 196 | 196 |
Mode of presidential election
The presidential term of office is six years under the 1978 constitution. When electing the president, similar to parliamentary elections, voters have the option of indicating candidates of first, second and third preference on the ballot. When counting votes, the votes of the first preference are evaluated first. If a candidate receives an absolute majority of the votes, he is elected. If this is not the case, the candidate with the lowest number of first preference votes will be eliminated from the evaluation. All subsequent candidates move up one level and then all first preference votes are counted again. This process will continue until a candidate has a majority of the first preference votes. This is the election winner ( instant runoff voting , ranking order; according to section 94 of the constitution). One of the advantages of this right to vote is that the election is decided in one ballot and no second ballot is necessary.
Elections to the provincial councils
On November 14, 1987, the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Its provisions provided for a devolution of the central state power to elected provincial councils . Elections to the provincial councils take place in the provinces of Sri Lanka according to proportional representation. When the 13th Amendment to the Constitution came into force, Sri Lanka had 8 provinces, as the Northeast Province had been formed from the North and East Province . On January 1, 2007, however, this was divided again after a decision of the Supreme Court, so that since then there are 9 provinces and provincial councils. Elections to the provincial councils take place every five years. The provincial councils have advisory and legislative powers in the areas of education, health, housing, infrastructure and social affairs. The executive functions in the provinces are carried out by a governor appointed by the president and his minister.
Referendums
The Sri Lankan Constitution (Chapter XIII) provides for the possibility of popular votes (referendums) on bills. A referendum can be ordered by the president. These can be bills that have previously been rejected by parliament. A referendum is also due if the Sri Lankan Supreme Court deems a two-thirds majority to be necessary. If the proposed law is approved by an absolute majority of those who vote, it becomes law. The prerequisite is that the voter turnout is at least 33.3%. If the voters have approved the bill with a two-thirds majority, it will become law in any case, regardless of voter turnout. In the history of Sri Lanka, a national referendum has only been held once, on December 22, 1982, ordered by President Junius Richard Jayewardene . A second referendum announced by President Chandrika Kumaratunga for August 21, 2001 was previously canceled.
Criticism of the current electoral system
Since around the 1990s there has been an ongoing discussion in Sri Lanka as to whether the electoral system should be changed. One of the main criticisms of the current electoral system for parliamentary elections is that the elected MPs are only insufficiently accountable to their voters. Because the election takes place in multi-person and not single-person constituencies, the individual MPs elected in such constituencies cannot be held accountable enough by the electorate. His voters are, so to speak, diffusely scattered over a larger area in which several other people were also elected. Due to the multi-person constituencies, not all areas of Sri Lanka are represented equally, as would be the case with single-person constituencies. The lack of a system of state funding for political parties was also criticized, which means that the wealthy in particular can be politically active and encourage corruption. Compared to other Asian countries, women are highly underrepresented in parliament, and the few female members of parliament often obtained their parliamentary seat largely through family relationships.
Web links
- Evolution of the Parliamentary System , brief history on the Sri Lankan Parliament website
- The Electoral System , the electoral system for parliament, explained on the Sri Lankan Parliament website
Individual evidence
- ↑ KT Rajasingham: Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 2: Beginning of British Rule. In: Asia Times. Retrieved December 13, 2014 .
- ^ TJ Barron: The Donoughmore commission and Ceylon's national identity . In: The Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics. 26 (2), 1988, pp. 147-157. doi: 10.1080 / 14662048808447539
- ^ Tilak S. Fernando: Donoughmore Records On Ceylon-Constituion Autioned In London. infolanka.com, accessed December 13, 2014 .
- ^ Dates of Elections. Parliament of Sri Lanka, accessed July 19, 2015 .
- ^ Evolution of the Parliamentary System. Parliament of Sri Lanka, accessed January 23, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d e f 1978 Constitution. Parliament of Sri Lanka, accessed January 31, 2015 .
- ^ Nineteenth Amendment. In: Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved September 21, 2019 .
- ^ A b c The Electoral System. Parliament of Sri Lanka, accessed January 31, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d Amendments up to the Seventeenth Amendment. Retrieved January 31, 2015 .
- ^ Past Parliamentary General Election Results. (No longer available online.) Department of Elections, archived from the original January 7, 2009 ; accessed on July 18, 2015 .
- ^ Number of MPs By Each District. Base on 2014 Register. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Department of Elections, archived from the original on June 29, 2015 ; accessed on July 1, 2015 .
- ^ Allocation of MPs for upcoming general election. newsfirst.lk, November 12, 2018, accessed on November 16, 2019 .
- ^ The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka - Extraordinarily (Ed.): Part I: Section (I) - General: Government Notifications: Parliamentary Election - 2019 . No. 2096/73 , November 10, 2018 (English, gov.lk [PDF]).
- ^ Provincial Councils. (No longer available online.) The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka, March 25, 2014, archived from the original July 7, 2009 ; accessed on July 18, 2015 .
- ↑ Referendums. Parliament of Sri Lanka, accessed August 9, 2015 .
- ↑ Should there be a change in the electoral system of Sri Lanka? cleanpolitics.lk, accessed on February 1, 2020 .
| Elections in British Ceylon |
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| Parliamentary elections |
1947 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 (March) • 1960 (July) • 1965 • 1970 • 1977 • 1989 • 1994 • 2000 • 2001 • 2004 • 2010 • 2015 • 2020 |
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| Presidential election | ||
| Referendums |