Muslim, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction

_#_National holiday: Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)

_#_Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet

_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament

_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--President Ranasinghe PREMADASA (since 2 January
1989);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGE (since
6 March 1989)

_#_Political parties and leaders:
United National Party (UNP), Ranasinghe PREMADASA;
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE;
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), M. H. M. ASHRAFF;
All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Kumar PONNAMBALAM;
People's United Front (MEP, or Mahajana Eksath Peramuna), Dinesh
GUNAWARDENE;
Eelam Democratic Front (EDF), Edward Sebastian PILLAI;
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), leader (vacant);
Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS), Velupillai
BALAKUMARAN;
New Socialist Party (NSSP, or Nava Sama Samaja Party),
Vasudeva NANAYAKKARA;
Lanka Socialist Party/Trotskyite (LSSP, or Lanka Sama Samaja Party),
Colin R. de SILVA;
Sri Lanka People's Party (SLMP, or Sri Lanka Mahajana Party),
Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARANATUNGA;
Communist Party/Moscow (CP/M), K. P. SILVA;
Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. SHANMUGATHASAN;
note--the United Socialist Alliance (USA) includes the NSSP, LSSP,
SLMP, CP/M, and CP/B

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

_#_Elections:

President--last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held
December 1994);
results--Ranasinghe PREMADASA (UNP) 50%,
Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE (SLFP) 45%, other 5%;

Parliament--last held 15 February 1989
(next to be held by February 1995);
results--UNP 51%, SLFP 32%, SLMC 4%, TULF 3%, USA 3%, EROS 3%, MEP 1%,
other 3%;
seats--(225 total) UNP 125, SLFP 67, other 33

_#_Other political or pressure groups: Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) and other smaller Tamil separatist groups; Janatha Vimukthi
Peramuna (JVP or People's Liberation Front); Buddhist clergy; Sinhalese
Buddhist lay groups; labor unions

_#_Member of: AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador W. Susanta De ALWIS; Chancery
at 2148 Wyoming Avenue