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Asia and Oceania
Sri Lanka |
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Country information
HISTORY
Sri Lanka's history has reflected its close links with the subcontinent and with South East Asia. The colonial European powers arrived in 1505. The Portuguese, the Dutch and then the British ruled Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka (or Ceylon, as it was then known) gained independence from Britain in February 1948.
Recent Political History
Following independence from Britain in February 1948, the political scene has been dominated by two parties: the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which is now part of the People’s Alliance (PA). The SLFP was founded by S W R D Banadaranaike, who was Prime Minister until he was assassinated in 1959 by a Buddhist extremist. His widow, Sirimavo Banadaranaike, became leader of the SLFP and served as both Prime Minister and leader of the opposition.A republican constitution was adopted in 1972 and the ruling coalition, led by Sirimavo Banadaranaike, gave itself an extra two years in power. The UNP returned to power in 1978 and adopted a new constitution based on an executive presidency. It introduced for the first time elections based on proportional representation. The UNP's Ranasinghe Premadasa won the presidential election in 1988 and served as President until his assassination in 1993.
By this time the SLFP had become part of the People’s Alliance (PA) coalition headed by Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, daughter of SWRD and Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Mrs Kumaratunga went on to win a landslide victory in elections in November 1994 and 1999 and served as President until November 2005. The PA also won the Parliamentary elections in October 2000. In 2001, less than a year after being re-elected, the PA lost their majority. The United National Front coalition, lead by UNP Ranil Wickremasinghe, won elections with 109 seats and the President’s PA came second with 77 seats, which led to an arrangement of political cohabitation between two rival parties, with the PA’s leader as President and the UNP’s leader as Prime Minister.
In November 2003, President Kumaratunga sacked three key ministers taking over their portfolios (including defence) and declared a state of emergency (which was lifted a few days later). This was done on the grounds of national security, and the actions were within her Constitutional powers. No agreement on working arrangements was reached between the President and Prime Minister, and in January 2004, the SLFP signed an alliance with the JVP forming the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
In February 2004, the then President dissolved Parliament and called general elections in April. The elections in April 2004 produced a new political order with the victory of the UPFA (SLFP and JVP alliance). Support for the traditional parties dropped, and smaller parties - JVP, TNA and JHU gained significant numbers of seats. The UPFA formed a minority government. In September 2004, the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC – representing Indian-origin Tamils) with 8 seats joined the government giving it a small majority. In June 2005 the JVP left the Government after the President’s decision to sign a post-tsunami funding arrangement with the LTTE.
Latest Political Developments
In November 2005, Mahinda Rajapakse (SLFP) was elected President with 50.3% of the vote. The LTTE enforced a boycott of the poll in Tamil areas under their control or which they strongly influence. This resulted in extremely low voter participation in the north and east of the country. Ranil Wickremesinghe, UNP Presidential candidate and Leader of the Opposition took 48.4%. In January 2007, a number of UNP members joined the government team giving it a parliamentary majority. A cabinet reshuffle followed.
Throughout 2008 and 2009 the UPFA have won a series of victories in Provincial Council elections. Parliamentary elections are due in 2010 and there is speculation that the President may call for early Presidential elections, although the current term does not expire until November 2011.
UK/SRI LANKA RELATIONS
Bilateral relations are good. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, visited Sri Lanka with Bernard Kouchner, French Foreign Minister, in April 2009. Mike Foster, Minister of State at DFID also visited in April 2009. Lord Malloch-Brown, then Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, visited Sri Lanka in July 2008.
The Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Rohitha Bogollagama visited the UK in March 2007, meeting the then Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett and Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development. He returned to the UK in April 2008 and June 2009 when he met the Foreign Secretary. President Rajapakse met the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander in the margins of the UN General Assembly in September 2008.
In February 2009 Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed former Cabinet Minister Des Browne as his Special Envoy for Sri Lanka. He visited Sri Lankan in May 2009 as part of a cross-party group of parliamentarians, along with John Bercow, Malcolm Bruce, Eddie McGrady and Mohammed Sarwar.
There are approximately 300,000 Sri Lankans settled in Britain, equally divided between Sinhalese and Tamils.
UK DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
Since September 2008 the UK has committed £12.5 million of humanitarian aid for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) affected by the fighting in northern Sri Lanka. All funds are channelled through impartial humanitarian agencies, such as the United Nations (UN) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Until the conflict ended in May 2009 the funds were chiefly used to underwrite the efforts of key humanitarian agencies to provide emergency assistance to civilians in the former conflict area. Since the end of the war the focus has shifted towards supporting the humanitarian effort in the IDP camps in Vavuniya and advocating for the early return of the displaced civilians to their homes. Funding is available to support demining, the returns process and livelihood recovery activities. For more information on the UK’s humanitarian response, see the Department for International Development’s (DFID) webpage: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/srilankacrisis
Our interest in helping to support a lasting resolution to the Sri Lankan conflict led the UK, along with other donor countries, to focus efforts on strengthening incentives for peace and reconciliation. These initiatives include:
- Encouraging key donors to adopt conflict sensitive approaches; reducing communal tensions through greater adherence to human rights standards;
- supporting greater preparedness for achieving a political solution to the conflict and post-conflict recovery and reconstruction;
- strengthening civil society to contribute more effectively to reconciliation;
- helping to make national and state institutions more accountable and enabled to support the peace process;
- improving the livelihood and security of those affected by conflict.
Sri Lanka is a middle income country with approximately 1 million people (6%) of the population living in poverty. The major cause of poverty and inequality has been the long running conflict. Future progress on poverty reduction to address the inequalities in the population in Sri Lanka is dependent on achieving lasting peace. DFID, working with the World Bank and Government of Sri Lanka, has contributed to the development of a National Education Sector Strategy aimed at maximising the role of education in social inclusion and peace building.
Following the tsunami on 26 December 2004, the UK Government committed £75 million for immediate relief and recovery in the affected area, including Sri Lanka. At the end of March 2005 DFID announced a further £65 million for longer term reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in the area. The UK response to the tsunami relief effort was channelled through United Nations agencies, the Red Cross movement, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) as well as direct inventions aimed at addressing urgent requirements. The UK also supported the United Nations’ assessment, information dissemination and coordination role. UK aid contributed to projects to improve the health of the affected population, improve the provision of water and sanitation, trace missing persons, distribute food, provide shelter, fund mental health and psycho-social support and restore livelihoods.
Cultural Relations with the UK
The British Council has English Teaching Centres in Colombo (one of the fastest growing in the network with well over 3000 students) and Kandy, and is involved in English language projects throughout the island. It also runs busy libraries at the teaching centres, and maintains a lively arts programme.
The Council runs an education information service that offers detailed information on all aspects of the British education system, and administers exams in Colombo and Kandy.
In Sri Lanka the Council also works closely with the Ministry of Education on its education reform agenda, particularly at Primary level.
