Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia Democratic People's Republic of Korea Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran (Islamic Republic of) Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia (Federated States of) Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Republic of Korea Republic of Moldova Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka State of Palestine Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Tajikistan Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Türkiye Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland United Republic of Tanzania United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Viet Nam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka
Women in decision-making positions
11%
Members of local deliberative bodies are women (552 elected women)
No woman is Head of State or Government
10%
Parliamentarians are women
9%
Ministers are women

Government organization

Spheres of government

Sri Lanka is a unitary republic with three spheres of government: central, intermediate (provincial), and local.

One tier of central government; one tier of intermediate government (provinces); and one tier of local government composed of villages, municipalities and towns.

  • Head of State: The President is directly elected by voters.
  • Head of Government: The Prime Minister is the member of Parliament, who, in the President's opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of Parliament. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
  • Legislative body: Parliament is a unicameral legislature whose members are directly elected by voters.
  • Executive body: The Cabinet of Ministers is composed of the President and a maximum of 30 additional ministers. The President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoints the ministers from amongst the members of Parliament.

  • Legislative body: The provincial council is composed of the chairperson and members who are directly elected by voters. The chairperson is elected by and from the provincial council to preside over it; the chairperson is not vested with executive powers.
  • Executive body: The board of ministers is composed of the chief minister and one to four additional ministers. The chief minister is the provincial council member who is best able to command the support of a majority of the council members, as appointed by the provincial governor. The provincial governor, on the advice of the chief minister, appoints the additional ministers from amongst the members of the provincial council. The executive head of the provincial level of government is the provincial governor, who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka.

  • Organization: Local government is organized into one tier of 23 municipalities, 41 town-level local government units, and 271 village-level local government units.
  • Autonomies: Local government is responsible for levying local taxes, making statutes and regulations, and adopting a local budget.
  • Ministerial oversight: The Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils is responsible for central government oversight of local government.

Overview of local government

Local government composition

Deliberative body: The municipal council is composed of the mayor and elected members. The mayor presides over the municipal council; the mayor is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The mayor is the executive at the municipal level of government.

Deliberative body: The urban council is composed of the chairperson and elected members. The chairperson presides over the urban council; the chairperson is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The council chairperson is the executive at the town level of government.

Deliberative body: The pradeshiya sabha is composed of the chairperson and elected members. The chairperson presides over the pradeshiya sabha; the chairperson is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The chairperson is the executive at the pradeshiya sabha level of government.

Local government elections

Electoral system for local deliberative bodies: mixed: majority/plurality (first-past-the-post) and proportional representation (closed list)

  • Two candidate nomination lists must be submitted by each party participating in the local deliberative body elections. One list comprises the number of candidates equivalent to 60% of the total number of members of the local authority, and the other list comprises the number equivalent to 40% of the total number of members of the local authority, plus three additional names.
  • Using the first lists, 60% of council members are elected using a ward-based majority vote. Using the second lists, the additional persons lists, 40% of council members are elected using a proportional electoral system based on the proportion of seats their party wins.

Electoral system for mayors/chairpersons: winning list

The mayor/chairperson is nominated by the leader of the party that receives the highest number of votes within the council election.

Sources: Pradeshiya Sabhas Act, 1987 (amended through 2018), article 4; Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, 1947 (amended through 2017), articles 28, 65, 65(a), 65(b) and 66(b)

Gender quotas: Legislated candidate quotas, sanctions

  • Within the first list for each party, at least 10% of total nominees must be women. Within the second list for each party, at least 50% of total nominees must be women. The Election Commission of Sri Lanka can reject any lists that do not comply with these quotas.
  • The Election Commissioner oversees that 25% of the total members to be elected and returned from each ward must be women.
  • These quotas do not apply if the number of members elected for a local authority exceeds the apportioned amount, and the 25% quota has not yet been met. Furthermore, if a party receives less than 20% of the total number of votes in a local authority and obtains fewer than three seats, the quota does not apply.

Additional quotas: No

Source: Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, 1947 (amended through 2017), articles 27F, 28 and 65

  • Term length: 4 years
  • Last local elections: 2018
  • Next local elections: 2022

Election Commission of Sri Lanka

National legal framework on local government

  • Constitution of Sri Lanka, 1978 (amended through 2020);
  • Provincial Councils Elections Act, 1988 (amended through 2017);
  • Pradeshiya Sabhas Act, 1987 (amended through 2018);
  • Provincial Councils Act, 1987 (amended through 1998);
  • Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, 1947 (amended through 2017);
  • Municipal Councils Ordinance, 1947 (amended through 2017);
  • Urban Councils Ordinance, 1939 (amended through 2017);
  • Administrative Districts Act, 1955.

There are constitutional provisions that establish local government in Sri Lanka. According to Schedule 9 of the Constitution of 1978 (amended through 2020), “local authorities for the purpose of Local Government and village administration, [are the] Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas. Local Authorities will have the powers vested in them under existing law. Municipal Councils and Urban Councils will have the powers vested in them under the Municipal Councils Ordinance and the Urban Councils Ordinance, Pradeshiya Sabha will have the powers vested in them under existing law. It will be open to a Provincial Council to confer additional powers on local authorities but not to take away their powers.”

Parliament is responsible for establishing the national legal framework on local government. The key pieces of legislation which regulate local government are the Municipal Councils Ordinance, 1947 (amended through 2017), the Urban Councils Ordinance, 1939 (amended through 2017), and the Pradeshiya Sabhas Act of 1987 (amended through 2018), which establish municipal and urban councils for the purposes of local government in Sri Lanka and pradeshiya sabhas to provide greater opportunities for the people to participate effectively in decision-making process, relating to administrative and development activities at a local level.

Sources:

1. UN Women: Data on share of women in local government as of 1 January 2025.

2. UN Women: Information on Head of State and Government as of 1 December 2025.

3. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Data on share of women in the single/lower chamber of parliament as of 1 January 2025.

4. UN Women: Data on share of women Cabinet ministers as of 1 January 2025.

5. Information on local government organization as of 1 January 2023.