Sri Lanka’s presidency — The most powerful job in the world

"Of all the executive presidencies in the world, Sri Lanka’s is the most powerful, even more than the US or the French presidency," said Rohan Edirisinghe of Colombo University’s Law faculty.

Under emergency powers vested in the office, the President can also take steps overriding any law passed by parliament. Though the emergency motion has to come before parliament every 30 days for extension, once it is passed, the President can promulgate any regulation under emergency laws during that month without reference to Parliament.

As India debates if an executive presidency would not assist better governance, many sections of Sri Lankan opinion want an abolition of their presidencywhich is seen as autocratic and concentrating too much power in one individual.

Perhaps it is evidence of the temptation such powers can be to an incumbent, that Chandrika Kumaratunga, who had vowed to abolish the office within a year of coming to power in 1994, is now seeking a second term.

This time too, Kumaratunga has promised to abolish the presidency as part of her package of constitutional reforms, while her main opponent Ranil Wickremesinghe has said he favours a reformed executive presidency accountable to parliament and shorn of its immunity.

Sri Lanka shifted from the prime ministerial to the presidential system in 1978 under J R Jayewardene, who ensured the office he was creating for himself was armed with draconian authority.

The justification then was that for stability and accelerated development, the country required a strong executive, freed from the whims of legislature.

Three others have held the post since his retirement in 1988. Ranasinghe Premadasa was elected that year, and onhis assassination in 1993, D B Wijetunge, who was the prime minister, succeeded him. The next year saw the election of Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Of the four, analysts see Premadasa and Kumaratunga as the "most presidential". Jayawardene, with a strong tradition of parliament behind him, formed a powerful cabinet and relied on it even though he did not need to. But not so Kumaratunga or Premadasa.

Unlike other executive presidencies, the Sri Lankan president can function as a cabinet minister. Kumaratunga holds the finance and defence portfolios but in five years, was not answerable to parliament on either subject.

By extension, the cabinet itself is not as powerful as the presidential secretariat. For instance, during President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s time, his adviser Bradman Weerakoon was the de facto foreign minister though Harold Herath actually held the portfolio.

In the present set-up, secretary to the president Kusumsiri Balapatabendi and adviser Tara de Mel wield extraordinary influence overgovernment.