15th Parliament of Sri Lanka
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The 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka was the meeting of 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 ...
with its membership determined by the results of the 2015 parliamentary election, held on 17 August 2015. The parliament met for the first time on 1 September 2015 and was dissolved on 3 March 2020. According to the
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 ...
, the maximum
legislative term A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections. ...
of the parliament is 5 years from the first meeting.


Election

The 15th parliamentary election was held on 17 August 2015. The incumbent
United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...
(UNP) led
United National Front for Good Governance The United National Front (UNF) () later the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) ( si, එක්සත් යහපාලන ජාතික පෙරමුණ ''Eksath Yahapalana Jathika Peramuna''; ta, நல்லாட்ச ...
(UNFGG) won 106 seats, an increase of 46 since the 2010 election, but failed to secure a majority in Parliament. The main opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won 95 seats, a decline of 49. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the largest party representing Sri Lankan Tamils, won 16 seats, an increase of two from 2010. The remaining eight seats were won by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (6),
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress ( ta, சிறீலங்கா முஸ்லீம் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Srīlaṅkā Muslīm Kāṅkiras; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රස ...
(1) and
Eelam People's Democratic Party The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda. Background Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam ...
(1).


Results

The new parliament was sworn in on 1 September 2015.
Karu Jayasuriya Deshabandu Karu Jayasuriya, MP ( si, කරු ජයසුරිය, ta, கரு ஜயசூரிய; born 29 September 1940) is a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Previously he was Mayor of Colo ...
was elected
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...
,
Thilanga Sumathipala Uduwatuwage Janath Priya Thilanga Sumathipala MP (born 3 May 1964) (known as Thilanga Sumathipala) is a Sri Lankan politician who was the former deputy speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka since 2015 and former President of Sri Lanka Cricket ...
as the Deputy Speaker and Selvam Adaikalanathan as the Deputy Chairman of Committees.
Lakshman Kiriella Lakshman Bandara Kiriella, MP (born 2 February 1948) is a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer. He is a Member of Parliament from the Kandy District, former Leader of the House of the parliament. Also he held office as Minister of Public Enterprise ...
was appointed Leader of the House and Gayantha Karunathilaka was appointed Chief Government Whip. The Speaker recognised TNA leader R. Sampanthan as Leader of the Opposition on 3 September 2015. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka was nominated to be Chief Opposition Whip. The Parliament became a Constitutional Assembly on 9 March 2016 in order to formulate a new constitution for Sri Lanka. Thilanga Sumathipala resigned as Deputy Speaker on 25 May 2018. His replacement
Ananda Kumarasiri Jayasundara Mudiyanselage Ananda Kumarasiri (born 25 March 1954) is a member of the United National Party and served as Deputy speaker and chairman of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka between 2018 to 2020. He is the son of late J M Kumarad ...
was elected on 5 June 2018. Following the withdrawal of the UPFA from the national government, Mahinda Rajapaksa and
Mahinda Amaraweera Mahinda Amaraweera ( Sinhala:මහින්ද අමරවීර,Tamil: மஹிந்த அமரவீர; born 12 February 1962) is a Sri Lankan politician. He is currently the cabinet Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife, and Forest Resour ...
were recognised as Leader of the Opposition and Chief Opposition Whip on 18 December 2018.


Government

On 20 August 2015 the central committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent of the UPFA, agreed to form a national government with the UNP for two years.
Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...
, leader of the UNP, was sworn in 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 ...
on 21 August 2015. Immediately afterwards a memorandum of understanding to work together in Parliament was signed by acting SLFP general secretary Duminda Dissanayake and UNP general secretary
Kabir Hashim Mohamed Hashim Mohamed Kabir ( Sinhala: කබීර් හෂීම්, Tamil: கபீர் ஹாசிம்; born 19 May 1959) popularly known as ''Kabir Hashim'' is a Sri Lankan politician and economist. He is a member of the Parliament ...
. On 3 September Parliament voted by 143 votes (101 UNFGG, 40 UPFA, 1 EPDP, 1 SLMC) to 16 votes (11 UPFA, 5 JVP), with 63 absent (43 UPFA, 16 TNA, 3 UNFGG, 1 JVP), to approve the formation of a national government. Three UNFGG cabinet ministers were sworn in on 24 August 2015. A further 39 cabinet ministers, 28 from the UNFGG and 11 from the UPFA, were sworn in on 4 September 2015. Three more cabinet ministers, one from the UNFGG and two from the UPFA, were sworn in on 9 September 2015. 19 state ministers (11 UNFGG, 8 UPFA) and 21 deputy ministers (11 UNFGG, 10 UPFA) were also sworn in on 9 September 2015. Two more deputy ministers, both from the UPFA, were sworn in on 10 September 2015. A further cabinet minister from the UPFA was sworn in on 23 October 2015. A further cabinet minister from the UNFGG was sworn in on 25 February 2016. A UPFA state minister and two deputy ministers (one UNFGG, one UPFA) were sworn in on 6 April 2016.


Constitutional crisis

The UPFA withdrew from the national government on 26 October 2018.
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 ...
Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி ...
, leader of the UPFA, dismissed Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and replaced him with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The following day Sirisena prorogued Parliament. A
constitutional crisis In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this ...
ensued as the UNP refused to accept changes, describing them as unconstitutional, illegal and a coup. Over the next few days Sirisena appointed a new cabinet consisting of MPs from the UPFA, EPDP and defections from the UNP. Despite the defections the UPFA could not muster the support of a majority of MPs and with the TNA, which held the balance of power in Parliament, announcing that it would support a
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...
against Prime Minister Rajapaksa, Sirisena dissolved parliament on 9 November 2018 and called fresh elections for 5 January 2019. The UNP, TNA, JVP and several others challenged the dissolution in the Supreme Court which on 13 November 2018 issued a
stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tri ...
on the dissolution until 7 December 2018. Parliament re-convened on 14 November 2018 when 122 (100 UNFGG, 14 TNA, 6 JVP, 2 UPFA) out of 225 MPs supported the motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Rajapaksa. Sirisena and the UPFA refused to accept the motion of no confidence, saying that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had not followed parliamentary procedures. On 16 November 2018 parliament passed an amended motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Rajapaksa with the support of 122 MPs. Sirisena rejected the second the motion of no confidence as well, saying that he would not re-appoint Wickremesinghe as prime minister. On 3 December 2018, following a
quo warranto In law, especially English and American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or ...
petition filed by 122 MPs, the Court of Appeal issued an
interim order The term interim order refers to an order issued by a court during the pendency of the litigation. It is generally issued by the Court to ensure Status quo. The rationale for such orders to be issued by the Courts is best explained by the Latin le ...
restraining Rajapaksa and 48 ministers from functioning. On 12 December 2018 117 MPs, including 14 from the TNA, supported a motion of confidence in Wickremesinghe. A seven-bench Supreme Court unanimously ruled on 13 December 2018 that Sirisena's dissolution of parliament on 9 November 2018 was unconstitutional and null, void ab initio and without force or effect in law. The following day a three-bench Supreme Court refused to
vacate A vacated judgment (also known as vacatur relief) makes a previous legal judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court. ...
the Court of Appeal's interim order but allowed for a full appeal to be heard in mid January 2019. Rajapaksa resigned as Prime Minister on 15 December 2018. Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Prime Minister the following day, ending the crisis.


Legislation

;2015 ;2016 ;2017


Composition

The following are the changes in party and alliance affiliations for the 15th parliament. Light shading indicates majority (113 seats or more); dark shading indicates two-thirds majority (150 seats or more); no shading indicates minority government. The 15th parliament saw a number of defections and counter-defections: * 3 September 2015 - 41 UPFA and 1 SLMC MPs support the formation of a national government. * 9 September 2015 - Three UPFA MPs ( Indika Bandaranaike, Sumedha G. Jayasena and Lakshman Wasantha Perera) who had abstained from supporting the national government, are appointed deputy ministers. * 10 September 2015 - Two UPFA MPs ( Anuradha Jayaratne, Dushmantha Mithrapala) who had abstained from supporting the national government, are appointed deputy ministers. * 23 October 2015 - UPFA MP
Sarath Amunugama Sarath Amunugama, JP is a leading Sri Lankan academic, who is a professor of French and the founding Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Visual & Performing Arts, Colombo. He is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya. Amu ...
is appointed to the cabinet. * 6 April 2016 - UPFA MP
Lakshman Senewiratne Lakshman Pinto Jayatilaka Senewiratne (born 9 March 1957) (known as ''Lakshman Senewiratne'') is a Sri Lankan politician, former State Minister of Science, Technology and Research and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka representing the Badull ...
is appointed a state minister. * 30 June 2016 - Democratic Party MP
Sarath Fonseka Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka ( si, ගාර්දිහේවා සරත් චන්ද්‍රලාල් ෆොන්සේකා, ta, சரத் பொன்சேகா; born 18 December 1950), commonly know ...
joins the UNP. * 17 January 2017 - UNFGG MP Athuraliye Rathana Thero announces that he will function as an independent MP. * 19 September 2017 - UPFA MP Arundika Fernando crosses over to the opposition. * 30 October 2017 - UPFA MP Duleep Wijesekera crosses over to the opposition. * 10 December 2017 - MEP MP
Sriyani Wijewickrama Sriyani Wijewickrama is a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. She is an Attorney-at-Law by profession and an alumnus of University of Colombo In 2017 she left the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna to join Sri Lanka Freedom P ...
joins the SLFP. * 11 December 2017 - NFF MP Weerakumara Dissanayake joins the SLFP. * 28 December 2017 - UPFA MP Nimal Lanza joins the opposition. * 15 February 2018 - The Ceylon Workers' Congress pledges support for the president. * 8 May 2018 - 16 SLFP MPs, who had voted in favour of the unsuccessful
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...
against Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on 4 April 2018, cross over to the opposition. * 26 October 2018 - UPFA withdraws from the national government. * 26 October 2018 - Two UNFGG MPs ( Wasantha Senanayake and Ananda Aluthgamage) pledge support for new UPFA government. * 28 October 2018 - UNFGG MP Vadivel Suresh pledges support for UPFA government. * 29 October 2018 - New UPFA government including UNFGG MP
Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, MP, PC (born 16 March 1959) is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He is the current Minister of Justice and previously served in the same ministry from 2015 to 2017. He was the Prime Minister's nominee for the Constituti ...
and EPDP MP
Douglas Devananda Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda ( ta, டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா), is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri ...
is sworn in. * 30 October 2018 - UNFGG MP Dunesh Gankanda joins the UPFA government. * 2 November 2018 - UNFGG MP S. B. Nawinne and TNA MP S. Viyalendiran join the UPFA government. * 4 November 2018 - UNFGG MP Ashoka Priyantha joins the UPFA government. Independent MP Athuraliye Rathana Thero pledges support for the UPFA government. * 6 November 2018 - UPFA MP Manusha Nanayakkara resigns from the UPFA government and joins the UNP. * 10 November 2018 - Two SLFP MPs (
Wimalaweera Dissanayake Wimalaweera Dissanayake () is a Sri Lankan politician and current member of parliament for Digamadulla District. He was elected on 18 August 2015 from United People's Freedom Alliance. After the 2019 Presidential election, the newly elected pres ...
and Lohan Ratwatte) join the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). * 11 November 2018 - 34 SLFP MPs and one UNP MP ( Ananda Aluthgamage) join the SLPP. * 14 November 2018 - Two UPFA MPs ( A. H. M. Fowzie and Piyasena Gamage) cross over to the opposition. Wasantha Senanayake and Vadivel Suresh resign from the UPFA government and rejoin the UNFGG. * 18 December 2018 - Three UPFA MPs (
Indika Bandaranayake Indika Bandaranayake (born September 7, 1972) is a Sri Lankan politician, a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිම ...
,
Lakshman Senewiratne Lakshman Pinto Jayatilaka Senewiratne (born 9 March 1957) (known as ''Lakshman Senewiratne'') is a Sri Lankan politician, former State Minister of Science, Technology and Research and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka representing the Badull ...
and Gamini Vijith Vijithamuni Soysa) cross over to the government.


Members


Deaths, resignations and disqualifications

The 15th parliament saw the following deaths, resignations and disqualifications: * 3 September 2015 - Sarath Chandrasiri Mayadunne (JVP-NAT) resigned. His replacement Bimal Rathnayake (JVP-NAT) was sworn in on 22 September 2015. * 15 September 2015 - Chamara Sampath Dassanayake (UPFA-BAD) resigned to become Chief Minister of Uva Province. His replacement
Lakshman Senewiratne Lakshman Pinto Jayatilaka Senewiratne (born 9 March 1957) (known as ''Lakshman Senewiratne'') is a Sri Lankan politician, former State Minister of Science, Technology and Research and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka representing the Badull ...
(UPFA-BAD) was sworn in on 22 September 2015. * 19 January 2016 - M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardana (UNFGG-NAT) died. His replacement
Sarath Fonseka Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka ( si, ගාර්දිහේවා සරත් චන්ද්‍රලාල් ෆොන්සේකා, ta, சரத் பொன்சேகா; born 18 December 1950), commonly know ...
(UNFGG-NAT) was sworn in on 9 February 2016. * 19 January 2016 - M.A.Salman Javid (UNFGG-NAT) resigned. His replacement M. S. Thowfeek (UNFGG-NAT) was sworn in on 26 January 2016. * 2 November 2017 - Supreme Court rules that Geetha Kumarasinghe (UPFA-GAL) is disqualified from being an MP as she holds dual citizenship. Her replacement Piyasena Gamage was sworn in on 10 November 2107. * 18 January 2018 - M. H. M. Salman (UNFGG-NAT) resigned. His replacement A. L. M. Nazeer (UNFGG-NAT) was sworn in on 6 February 2018. * 23 May 2018 - M. H. M. Navavi (UNFGG-NAT) resigned. His replacement S. M. Mohamed Ismail (UNFGG-NAT) was sworn in on 8 June 2018.


List


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * FA * {{Parliament of Sri Lanka 2015 establishments in Sri Lanka 2015 Sri Lankan parliamentary election Parliament of Sri Lanka 2020 disestablishments in Sri Lanka