There have been sixteen prime ministers of Sri Lanka since the creation of the position in 1947, prior to the independence of the country (then known as Ceylon). The prime minister of Ceylon was the head of the government until 1972. In 1972, the country was renamed as the Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka, and the position was known as the prime minister of Sri Lanka from then onwards. The prime minister also held the unified Ministry of External Affairs and Defence until 1977, when the government of J. R. Jayewardene split the ministry into two ministries, forming the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 1978, after Jayewardene became the president, new constitutional changes were introduced. The position of the executive president was introduced, resulting in the powers of the prime minister being reduced. The president became the head of state and chief executive,V. Jayanth (2003-11-15). . The Hindu. Retrieved 2008-10-05. and the prime minister became a weak head of government.V.S. Sambandan (2005-11-22). "Ratnasiri Wickremanayake appointed Sri Lankan Premier" . The Hindu. Retrieved 2008-10-04.

Under the current constitution of Sri Lanka, the prime minister is the leader of the Cabinet business and also functions as a deputy to the president. In the event a president dies in office, the prime minister becomes the acting president until the Parliament convenes to elect a successor or new elections can be held to elect a new president. Such was the case in 1993, when President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated and Prime Minister Dingiri Banda Wijetunga took office as president.M.B. Dassanayake (2008-09-22). "Dingiri Banda Wijetunga - the journey to greatness" . Daily News. Retrieved 2008-10-04.

On 28 April 2015, the Parliament approved the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka which gives the power of the government to the prime minister, while the president remains the head of state, head of the Cabinet, and commander-in-chief.

Of the sixteen prime ministers who have held the office since the introduction of the position in 1947, one has held the office four times, two have held office thrice, and two have held office twice. Six prime ministers have gone on to become president of the country.

Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as prime minister the most times in the country's history, on six occasions (May 1993, December 2001, January 2015, August 2015, December 2018 and May 2022), whilst Dudley Senanayake and Sirimavo Bandaranayake have each been appointed three times. Mahinda Rajapaksa is the only prime minister who was suspended from his duties by the Supreme Court, becoming the first and only de facto prime minister of Sri Lanka in 2018.

List of prime ministers

Parties (7) (6) (1) (2) (1)

No.PortraitNameTerm of officeElectoral mandatesTime in officeOther ministerial officesheld while Prime MinisterPolitical partyof PMGovernment Refs 1 Senanayakeදොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායකடான் ஸ்டீபன் சேனாநாயக்க 1947 1952† 1947 "Senanayake, Don Stephen (1884–1952)" . The History Channel. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 2 Senanayakeඩඩ්ලි ෂෙල්ටන් සෙනානායකடட்லி சேனநாயக்கா 1952 1953 1952 Buddhika Kurukularatne (2007-06-19). "Dudley – the reluctant Prince" . Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 3 Kotelawala ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් කොතලාවලசேர் ஜோன் கொத்தலாவலை 1953 1956  — K. T. Rajasingham (2001-11-17). "Sri Lanka: The Untold Story" . Asia Times Online. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 4 Bandaranaikeසොලමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායකசொலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கா 1956 1959† 1956 "Bandaranaike, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias". history.com. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 5 Dahanayakeවිජයානන්ද දහනායකவிஜயானந்த தகநாயக்கா 1959 1960  — "Short Term" . Time. 1959-12-14. Retrieved 2008-10-11. (2) Senanayakeඩඩ්ලි සේනානායකடட்லி சேனநாயக்கா 1960 1960 March 1960 6 Bandaranaikeසිරිමාවො රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායකசிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே 1960 1965 July 1960 (2) Senanayakeඩඩ්ලි සේනානායකடட்லி சேனநாயக்கா 1965 1970 1965 Neville de Silva. "A Prime Minister who knew his onions" . UK Lanka Times. Retrieved 2008-10-06. (6) Bandaranaikeසිරිමාවො රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායකசிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே 1970 1977 1970 7 Jayewardeneජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධනஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா 1977 1978 1977 "Former Sri Lanka president dies, leaves mixed legacy" . CNN. 1996-11-01. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 8 Premadasaරණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா 1978 1989  — Barbara Crossette (1988-12-21). "MAN IN THE NEWS: Ranasinghe Premadasa; Sri Lankan At the Top". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-05. 9 Wijetungaඩිංගිරි බණ්ඩා විජේතුංග டிங்கிரி பண்ட விஜேதுங்க 1989 1993 1989 10 Wickremesingheරනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க 1993 1994  — "Profile: Ranil Wickramasinghe" . BBC News. 2005-11-22. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 11 Kumaratungaචන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංගசந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்கே குமாரதுங்கா 1994 1994 1994 "Hon Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (1994–2005)" . The official website of the Government of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2008-10-04. (6) Bandaranaikeසිරිමාවො රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායකசிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே 1994 2000  — 12 Wickremanayakeරත්නසිරි වික්‍රමනායකரத்னசிறி விக்கிரமநாயக்க 2000 2001 2000 (10) Wickremesingheරනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க 2001 2004 2001 "Sri Lanka" . The History Channel. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 13 Rajapaksaමහින්ද රාජපක්ෂமஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ 2004 2005 2004 "President's Profile" . The President's Fund of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2008-10-04. (12) Wickremanayakeරත්නසිරි වික්‍රමනායකரத்னசிறி விக்கிரமநாயக்க 2005 2010  — 14 Jayaratneදිසානායක මුදියන්සේලාගේ ජයරත්නதிசாநாயக்க முதியன்சேலாகே ஜயரத்ன 2010 2015 2010 (10) Wickremesingheරනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க 2015 2018 2015 (13) Rajapaksaමහින්ද රාජපක්ෂமஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ 2018 2018 — (10) Wickremesingheරනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க 2018 2019  — (13) Rajapaksaමහින්ද රාජපක්ෂமஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ 2019 2022 2020 (10) Wickremesingheරනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க 2022 2022  — 15 Gunawardenaදිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධනதினேஷ் குணவர்தன 2022 2024  — 16 හරිනි අමරසූරියஹரிணி அமரசூரிய 2024 Incumbent 2024

List of prime ministers by length of term Name Party No. of terms Length of term Longest continuous term Total years of premiership 1 SLPF 3 17 years and 204 days 2 UNP 1 3 UNP 5 8 years and 191 days 4 UNP 3 7 years, 20 days 5 SLPF 2 5 years, 270 days 6 SLPF 1 7 UNP 1 8 SLPF, SLPP 3 4 years and 80 days 9 UNP 1 10 SLPF 1 11 SLPP 1 12 NPP 1 * * 13 UNP 1 14 UNP 1 15 SBP 1 16 SLPF 1

Timeline

Relations between prime ministers Out of the 16 distinct people to have held the office of prime minister, 8 have come from three political families.

RelationsPrime ministersPolitical family Husband and wife S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike Bandaranaike Father and son D. S. Senanayake and Dudley Senanayake Senanayake Father and daughter S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga Bandaranaike Mother and daughter Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga Bandaranaike Uncle and nephew D. S. Senanayake and John Kotelawala Senanayake Cousins Dudley Senanayake and John Kotelawala Senanayake First cousins once removed J. R. Jayewardene and Ranil Wickremesinghe Wijewardene

Living prime ministers +Living as of November 2024Prime MinisterDate of birthPremiershipChandrika Kumaratunga1994Mahinda Rajapaksa2004–2005, 2018, 2019–2022, Dinesh Gunawardena2022–2024Ranil Wickremesinghe1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018–2019, 2022Harini Amarasuriya2024–present

See also

List of presidents of Sri Lanka Prime Minister's Office (Sri Lanka) Leader of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)

Notes The Parliament was known as the "House of Representatives" during the period of 1947–1972 In 1972, the country was named "Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka", and the Parliament was named as the National State Assembly. Under the constitutional changes of 1978, the country was renamed as the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka", and the Parliament was referred to as "Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka".

References General

"Former Prime Ministers" (.html). Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2008-10-04. "Handbook of Parliament - Prime Ministers" (.jsp). The Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2008-10-04. "PMs of Sri Lanka" (.htm). Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 2008-10-05.

Specific