The National State Assembly (NSA) was the

legislative body A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

established in May 1972 under the First Republican Constitution. The assembly was introduced by

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 is not ...

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...

under the United Front Government replacing the

Parliament of Ceylon The Parliament of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon & Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Constitution, prior to independence on 4 February 1948. Parliament replaced the State Council of Ceylon. ...

, a bicameral arrangement set up with the

Soulbury Commission The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

. The major changes were an increase in the authority of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, described as "a vehicle for the sovereignty of the people". It gave the government the power to act without constitutional restraints, with the courts having no rights to question the validity of the laws passed by the assembly. All laws passed by the NSA were valid until repealed by the assembly itself. The assembly saw the introduction of

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

principles and a constitutional foundation to the pre-eminent position of Sinhala and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. Both the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

came under political control. The assembly was

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

and initially consisted of the 151 elected members of its predecessor the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, as the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

had been abolished in 1971. The first amendment to the current constitution was to increase the number of members to 168. The current

Constitution of Sri Lanka The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව, Śrī Laṃkā āndukrama vyavasthāva, ta, இலங்கை அரசிய� ...

, adopted on 7 September 1978, replaced the National State Assembly with 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� ...

List of Parliaments

Members

Speakers

Stanley Tillekeratne Stanley Tillekeratne ( Sinhala: ස්ටැන්ලි තිලකරත්න) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්� ...

(1972–77) *

Anandatissa de Alwis Maha Amarasinghege Anandatissa de Alwis (21 August 1919 – 22 August 1996) was a Sri Lankan journalist, marketer and politician. He was the Speaker of the National State Assembly, a Minister of State and the fourth Governor of the North Weste ...

(1977–78)

Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees

* I. A. Cader (1972–77) *

Mohammed Abdul Bakeer Markar Deshamanya Marhoom Al Haj Mohammed Abdul Bakeer Markar (12 May 1917 – 10 September 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician and civil servant. He was the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and Governor of the Southern Province. Personal life ...

(1977–78)

References

External links