Constitution of Sri Lanka (1978)
The Gaullist styled charter with the strongest presidency in South Asia.
Overview
Adopted August 31, 1978 under J. R. Jayewardene, the Sri Lankan Constitution replaced Westminster parliamentarism with a directly elected executive presidency, Gaullist in inspiration and the strongest presidency in South Asia. It entrenched the switch to proportional representation and, in the thirteenth amendment of 1987, created provincial councils as the devolution answer to the ethnic conflict. The chapter on fundamental rights is justiciable, unusually strong for its era. Successive attempts to abolish or dilute the presidency, including the nineteenth amendments 2015 revival of prime ministerial balance, rolled back by the twentieth in 2020, define its politics.
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