Parliament of Sri Lanka

Joined the Commonwealth: 4 February 1948 

CPA Branch formed: 4 February 1948  

Capital City/Seat of Parliament: Sri Jayewardenpura Kotte 

Unicameral/Bicameral: Unicameral – Parliament (225 Members) 

Parliament/Legislature website: https://www.parliament.lk/ 

Number of Departmental/Ministry Oversight Committees: 30

Recent Articles in The Parliamentarian:

• The Parliamentarian 2023 Issue One - 'Sri Lanka Parliament launches children's book and welcomes record number of school students in one day'
  
• The Parliamentarian: 2021 Issue Two - 'What is the impact of the twentieth amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka?' by Neil Iddawala
• The Parliamentarian: 2020 Issue Four - Parliamentary Report - Opening of 9th Parliament by Neil Iddawala
• The Parliamentarian: 2020 Issue Two - Parliamentary Report - Dissolution of Parliament by Neil Iddawala
• The Parliamentarian: 2016 Issue Two – 'Promoting Evalagenda 2020 in the Context of Sustainable Development' by Hon. Kabir Hashim, Minister of Public Enterprise Development, Sri Lanka
• The Parliamentarian: 2014 Issue Two – 'Impeachments in the Sri Lankan Parliament' by Mrs Priyanee Wijesekera 

Recent CPA Programmatic Activities/News:

• In March 2025, the Parliament of Sri Lanka undertook a CPA Benchmarks Self-Assessment with support from the CPA Headquarters Secretariat and the National Assembly of Seychelles - read more here.
• In June 2024, over forty Commonwealth Clerks and parliamentary officials from across the CPA’s membership attended the CPA Advanced Residency Programme for Leadership in Parliament in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This was the first Residency Programme held for Clerks and parliamentary officials as part of the CPA Parliamentary Academy.
• In 2023, the CPA Secretary-General visited the Parliament of Sri Lanka and CPA Sri Lanka Branch - click here to read about this visit.
• In 2021, Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians from the CPA Asia Region, including the CPA Sri Lanka Branch, joined the discussion on how Commonwealth Parliaments can effectively establish gender sensitive practices as the CWP network hosted its virtual roundtable on gender sensitive Parliaments.
• In 2019, delegations from the CPA Sri Lanka Branch attended the 5th CPA Asia Regional Conference on the theme of ‘Envisioning Parliamentary Paths towards a Diverse and Developed South Asia,' hosted in Pakistan.
• To mark Commonwealth Day 2018, young people from the CPA Commonwealth Day Youth Programme, including young representatives from the CPA Sri Lanka Branch, attended the Commonwealth Day service.
• In 2018, the CPA Sri Lanka Branch were represented at the 9th Commonwealth Youth Parliament in Jersey.
• In 2018, The Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation (GPFE) together with EvalPartners, the Sri Lanka Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation, Prime Minister’s Office of Sri Lanka, Parliament of Sri Lanka, and the Sri Lanka Evaluation Association, hosted #EvalColombo2018 to promote demand and use of evaluation by Parliamentarians through dialogue and exchange, and to generate innovative approaches to policy making using evaluation as a tool.
• Between 2018-2020, the Parliament of Sri Lanka took part in the Commonwealth Partnership for Democracy (#CP4D) programme aimed at strengthening democratic institutions and promoting good governance across Commonwealth countries.