In Sri Lanka, the Cabinet of Ministers is the council of

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

that form the central government of Sri Lanka. The body of senior ministers responsible and answerable to the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

. The

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

is a member of the cabinet and its head. The current cabinet is the Wickremesinghe cabinet, which consists of 15 members from August 2020. There are also 38 state ministers who are not members of the cabinet.

Background

The Executive Council of Ceylon was the Executive Council created in British Ceylon by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonial administration on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission along with the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of repr ...

, as the legislative body, on 13 March 1833. At its creation the Executive Council was headed by the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, along with five members appointed by the Governor. These five members were officials who held the posts of the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney General, the

Auditor-General A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level execut ...

, the Treasurer and the General Officer Commanding, Ceylon. The Council exercised executive power and advised the governor. As a result of the ''First Manning Reforms'' three non-officials were elected to the executive council. With enactment of the new constitution of the ''Dominion of Ceylon'' in 1947 the Executive Council was replaced by a National Cabinet.

Constitutional basis

As per the Sri Lankan Constitution, the

is a member of and head of the cabinet. The president appoints as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

who has the confidence of parliament. Other ministers of the cabinet are appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister. The president may appoint himself to any ministry he chooses. According to the constitution the president must be the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

. The President also appoints, in consultation with the Prime Minister, non-cabinet ministers (state ministers, project ministers) and Deputy ministers.

Powers and functions

Constitutionally, the ''Cabinet of Ministers charged with the direction and control of the Government of the Republic'' and is collectively responsible and answerable to Parliament. Cabinet Ministers may table cabinet papers.

Meetings

Cabinet meets on a regular basis, usually weekly on a Tuesday to discuss the most important issues of government policy. The president typically chairs the meeting and sets the agenda. All Cabinet meetings are held behind closed doors and the minutes are kept confidential. The Cabinet meets at the

Old Parliament Building, Colombo The Old Parliament Building, is the building that houses the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka. Situated in the Colombo fort area facing the sea, it is in close proximity to the President's House, Colombo and adjacent to the General Treasury ...

Committees

A Cabinet

Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

comprises a subset of the larger Cabinet, consisting of a number of ministers who have responsibility in related areas of policy.

Administration

The Cabinet offices, are located at the Republic Building and is headed by the Secretary to the Cabinet, appointed by the President.

Privileges of office

Salary

A Cabinet minister would receive a salary of Rs. 140,000 (having been increased from 65,000 from January 2018); paid monthly from the respective ministry budget. In addition, since all ministers are members of parliament they are entitled to allowances and benefits of parliamentarians.Of Ministers’ Salaries And Parliamentary Perks
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Official residence and office

Cabinet Ministers are entitled to an

official residence An official residence is the residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-related functions. ...

, as well as an office and personal staff allocated from his ministry.

Travel

Each Cabinet Minister is entitled to three vehicles, which includes an official vehicle and security vehicle provided and maintained by their ministry. For domestic air travel, helicopters from the No. 4 (VVIP/VIP) Helicopter Squadron of the Sri Lanka Air Force are charted by the ministry.

Security

Traditionally security for the ministers have been provided by the Sri Lanka Police. During emergencies military units have been allocated to bolster security to certain ministers based on threat levels. At present the Ministerial Security Division is in charge of security of ministers.

Order of precedence

In the Sri Lankan order of precedence, cabinet ministers are placed after the Former Presidents, but before Governor of the Province (within their respective province).

Incumbent Cabinet

Lists of former cabinets

References

External links

Office of the Cabinet of Ministers, Sri Lanka
{{Asia topic, Cabinet of , title=National cabinets of Asia