Democracy
World’s Population
Population
Sri Lanka — formerly Ceylon — gained independence in 1948 from the British. In 1972, the country became a republic and changed its name to Sri Lanka. Sinhalese nationalism took prominence across political, ethnic, and linguistic discourse, and the Tamil minority faced political, socio-economic marginalization. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was formed in 1976 to fight for Tamil rights and aimed to establish a separate state in Sri Lanka. As a non-state armed group, the LTTE became an integral actor in Sri Lanka starting from the 1983 civil war up until 2009 when the government declared its defeat following a massive offensive by the state forces, thereby ending a 26-year civil war in the country. The civil war resulted in 70,000-80,000 deaths and some 65,000 missing persons and stagnated the country’s economic progress.
The Sri Lankan constitution was enacted in 1978 and has been amended more than 20 times. Political volatility ensued throughout the civil war and continued through the postwar period despite parliamentary and presidential elections. Successive governments faced serious accusations of corruption, nepotism, human rights abuses, and a lack of accountability for alleged war crimes. In 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected president, and his brother, Mahendra Rajapaksa, became the prime minister, thereby holding all executive power between the two brothers. In 2022, the Sri Lankan economy collapsed, triggering a massive citizen movement known as the Aragalaya (“Struggle”), demanding a political and economic change in the country. Peaceful political protests and activism swept across the country, leading to the ousting of the Rajapaksa family and mass resignations from their government.
In Sri Lanka, elections are largely free and fair. Opposition parties can run and compete in elections overall free from interference and coercion, and on a reasonably equal footing as the main party. The national elections are competitive with frequent and peaceful transfer of power between the main and opposition parties. The electoral playing field is not highly skewed in favour of the main party, and independent electoral oversight is maintained by the election commission that ensures an inclusive democratic participation.
Independent media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, and members of the general public are largely free to openly criticize or challenge the government. Under the NPP-led Dissanyake’s government, public debate is vibrant with many diverse critical voices expressing challenges to the government policy and legislation. The current government does not repress public protests or restrict freedom of speech, with the exception of a few legal frameworks that could likely threaten censorship.
Institutions in Sri Lanka are independent and largely serve as effective checks on the government. The judiciary largely operates autonomously without executive overreach and acts as a reliable safeguard against abuse of power. Institutions do not fail to hold government officials accountable, and the current government did not pass reforms to restrict their operational independence.
In Sri Lanka, the elections are largely free and fair. Major political opposition leaders and parties are able to run and compete in elections without significant barriers. The elections are competitive, with a regular and peaceful transfer of power between the opposition and the main party. Successive governments have not barred mainstream opposition parties from competing in elections. Independent electoral oversight is maintained where international election observers are invited during national elections. The government did not skew the electoral playing field to win a high vote share in the recent elections.
The NPP government has not unfairly barred a real, mainstream opposition party or candidate from competing in elections. In 2024, two national elections were held in Sri Lanka following the political and economic crisis in 2022. Presidential elections in September led to National People’s Power (NPP) candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s win. A record total of 39 candidates (from 22 political parties and 17 as independents) contested in the presidential elections. Parliamentary elections were held in November, where the NPP won 159 out of 225 parliamentary seats, securing a two-thirds majority. In this election, the NPP alliance consisted of the People’s Liberation Front, or Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), youth organizations, women’s groups, trade unions, and civil society organizations. Other political alliances included the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), led by former opposition leader and presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa. The SJB alliance also included candidates from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, one of the major Muslim political parties in the country. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) also participated in the elections, although neither of the Rajapaksa brothers (who contested through the SLPP) participated in the 2024 polls. The Tamil National Alliance, an ethnic political party, contested elections exclusively in the Jaffna district.
Led by Dissanayake, the NPP government has not enjoyed significant and unfair campaign advantages. During the 2024 elections, the then-incumbent government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe was accused of alleged misuse of state resources, including misuse of government vehicles and buildings, attempts to influence government officials, and the scaling-up of populist policy initiatives resembling pork-barrel schemes (wherein government spending is targeted to benefit the voters of a particular constituency in return for their political support). The 2020 parliamentary elections weakened the JVP position further (the major political party of the NPP), where the progressive party remained a minor opposition party, whereas the then incumbent SLPP alliance won 59 percent of the vote, and the SJB alliance won around 24 percent of the votes. While the SLPP promoted its Sinhalese nationalism and ideology, the internal rifts within a major opposition party,United National Party (UNP), just before the electoral campaign period, led to its better performance and vote share.
The current government has not seriously undermined independent electoral oversight. The Election Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL) is an independent constitutional body that oversees all national elections, as per its mandate in Article 104B of the constitution. The Commonwealth Observer Group’s (COG) report and the European Union’s election observer mission (EUEOM) praised the ECSL’s efforts in its conduct of inclusive democratic elections in 2024 and noted an increased sense of trust and satisfaction among stakeholders with its competence. During the 2024 campaign period between July and September, the ECSL received 4,945 complaints from various stakeholders, the bulk of which pertained to the incumbent government of Wickremesinghe and election law violations. Following the complaints, the ECSL issued warnings to several ministries and established complaint mechanisms. In 2020, Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government made several amendments to the constitution, curtailing ECSL’s investigative and enforcement powers that were retained by his successor, Wickremesinghe. However, in response to the widespread protests, two constitutional amendments were passed in October 2022 that rectified issues on electoral oversight, like strengthening independent bodies like the ECSL and reducing presidential overreach.
The government has not skewed the electoral playing field so much so that it generally wins elections with a very high vote share. The NPP alliance won 159 out of 225 seats in the parliament as a result of their manifesto focusing on socio-economic and political transformation following the 2022 economic crisis. During previous successive elections, various opposing political parties won elections with large margins. The 2024 parliamentary elections portrayed a robust picture of the people’s mandate, as seen in the NPP’s margins over the opposition, which won just 40 seats. The presidential election in 2024 was competitive, which resulted in Dissanayake winning the runoff with 55.89 percent of the votes, marking the first time an election victor was not endorsed by either of the historically mainstream parties, the SLFP and UNP. In the 2015 polls, incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost to the opposition coalition’s candidate, Maithripala Sirisena, with 47.58 percent of the votes compared to Sirisena’s 51.28 percent. In 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the presidency with 52.25 percent of the votes, defeating Sajith Premadasa from the then incumbent coalition. Additionally, the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act of 2023 aims to address campaign finance disparities that allow mainstream parties to accumulate excessive funding over smaller parties.
In Sri Lanka, independent media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, and members of the general public are largely free to openly criticize or challenge the current NPP-led government. Major media outlets and civil society organizations are not at risk of illegitimate shutdowns. Protests are largely able to take place without being violently shut down. There is a vibrant public debate across the country, with many diverse critical voices expressing challenges to government policy without the threat of censorship. Isolated hindrances, however, do exist that threaten freedom to dissent through potential legal frameworks.
The NPP government has not seriously intimidated or obstructed the work of independent and dissenting media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, or members of the general public. During previous governments, some dissenting organizations, independent journalists, and opposing political leaders continued to face legal issues, intimidation, and threats by both government officials and non-state actors. In some cases, journalists are threatened with physical and verbal violence. Tamil journalists reporting on government misconduct or dissent against the state were also particularly targeted, some threatened by legal means, disproportionate harassment, and also subjected to heightened surveillance and intelligence monitoring.
Under Dissanayake’s tenure, the government has not seriously and unfairly repressed protests or gatherings. Sri Lanka’s political discourse is vibrant with citizen participation and protests under successive governments. This deviates from the previous administration, when former President Wickremesinghe repressed protests, arrested protesters, and refused to hold local elections after he took office in 2022. Following Wickremesinghe’s taking office, the Aragalaya movement in 2022 catalyzed the widespread mass citizen mobilization that toppled the Rajapaksa political dynasty and resulted in mass resignations from the government, creating a lasting impact on Sri Lanka’s political establishment. Through the course of the movement, the state police often deployed tear gas and water cannons that escalated tensions and led to violent clashes with demonstrators. The NPP alliance was also a key stakeholder in the Aragalaya movement, alongside trade unions and federations such as the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) and the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF). This is seen in NPP members’ participation in July 2022 protests as part of the Aragalaya movement at the Sri Lankan parliament.
The current government has not seriously and unfairly censored dissenting speech. While the civic space has significantly improved since Rajapaksa’s departure, certain legal frameworks enacted under former governments continue to impact freedom of speech and expression in the country today. During the Aragalaya protests in April 2022, the government issued a temporary blackout where internet service providers were ordered to block access to Facebook, WhatsApp, X (formerly known as Twitter), and other social media platforms to stop mobilizations against the government. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka later addressed the issue, as it declared the government cannot impose censorship. The Anti Terrorism Bill of 2023 was put forth by the government to replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act 1979. However, the bill continues to uphold the patterns of severe violations of the past and provides excessive powers to the executive to restrict rights such as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The controversial Online Safety Act, enacted in 2024, severely restricts and regulates online communication by allowing authorities to label expressions they disagree with as “false statements.” The vague definitions for offenses used in the bill can be interpreted arbitrarily, risking criminalization of all legitimate expressions, creating a detrimental effect on the freedom of expression. The Act also established provisions for an online safety commission that assesses compliance of all online content and holds the authority for its removal without judicial oversight, upon violation of national security or public safety, or for promoting false information or fostering “feelings of ill-will and hostility”. In March 2024, a Non-Governmental Organizations (Registration and Supervision) Bill was proposed to the legislature that seeks to require civil society organizations to comply with governmental policy and agenda, leaving them vulnerable to obstruction and censorship if they dissent.
Institutions are independent and largely serve as effective checks on the NPP government. Rule of law prevails, and institutions largely operate autonomously to uphold democratic principles. The judiciary frequently checks on executive overreach and often rules impartially in cases against government dissenters. While occasional breaches of institutional independence exist, these institutions also act as reliable safeguards against abuse of power and government overreach.
Courts have not frequently and unfairly failed to check, or enabled the government’s attempts to repress criticism or retaliate against those who express open opposition to its most prominent, widely publicized policies. The courts in Sri Lanka often granted bail or acquittals to dissenters and government critics. In 2024, a court acquitted 13 individuals who took part in the 2022 Aragalaya movement. In July 2024, the Supreme Court allowed for a hearing on nine fundamental rights petitions that challenged the appointment of Deshbandu Tennakone as the Inspector General of Police over concerns of abuse of office and human rights violations. It issued an interim restraining order that prevented him from taking office. In 2024, the Supreme Court also reviewed the Anti-Terrorism bill of 2023 and established several of its clauses to be unconstitutional or required special procedures, such as a Special Majority or a Referendum.
Judicial, legislative, or executive institutions have not frequently and unfairly failed to hold government officials accountable. The courts made significant rulings that demonstrated the judiciary’s capacity to hold government officials accountable. For example, in January 2023, the Supreme Court ordered that the former President Sirisena and four of his senior officials compensate the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings as they failed to act on foreign intelligence that could have prevented the terrorist attack. In November 2023, the Rajapaksa brothers, along with 13 other high-ranking officials, were handed a symbolic ruling by the Supreme Court, which found they had violated public trust for their roles in triggering the 2022 economic crisis. However, executive overreach was prominent prior to 2022. Under the 20th constitutional amendment provisions, the Rajapaksa brothers centralized executive power, enabling them to mobilize a pro-government parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against then-Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.
Dissanayake’s government has not subjected independent oversight institutions to reforms that abolish or seriously weaken their independence or operational independence. However, the 20th constitutional amendment during Rajapaksa’s government expanded executive power while reducing the accountability powers of independent bodies such as the ECSL. Later, the Aragalaya movement prompted the Rajapaksa government to pass the 21st and 22nd amendments in 2022 that restored certain powers to independent constitutional bodies, such as re-establishing the constitutional council while limiting executive control.
Sri Lanka — formerly Ceylon — gained independence in 1948 from the British. In 1972, the country became a republic and changed its name to Sri Lanka. Sinhalese nationalism took prominence across political, ethnic, and linguistic discourse, and the Tamil minority faced political, socio-economic marginalization. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was formed in 1976 to fight for Tamil rights and aimed to establish a separate state in Sri Lanka. As a non-state armed group, the LTTE became an integral actor in Sri Lanka starting from the 1983 civil war up until 2009 when the government declared its defeat following a massive offensive by the state forces, thereby ending a 26-year civil war in the country. The civil war resulted in 70,000-80,000 deaths and some 65,000 missing persons and stagnated the country’s economic progress.
The Sri Lankan constitution was enacted in 1978 and has been amended more than 20 times. Political volatility ensued throughout the civil war and continued through the postwar period despite parliamentary and presidential elections. Successive governments faced serious accusations of corruption, nepotism, human rights abuses, and a lack of accountability for alleged war crimes. In 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected president, and his brother, Mahendra Rajapaksa, became the prime minister, thereby holding all executive power between the two brothers. In 2022, the Sri Lankan economy collapsed, triggering a massive citizen movement known as the Aragalaya (“Struggle”), demanding a political and economic change in the country. Peaceful political protests and activism swept across the country, leading to the ousting of the Rajapaksa family and mass resignations from their government.
In Sri Lanka, elections are largely free and fair. Opposition parties can run and compete in elections overall free from interference and coercion, and on a reasonably equal footing as the main party. The national elections are competitive with frequent and peaceful transfer of power between the main and opposition parties. The electoral playing field is not highly skewed in favour of the main party, and independent electoral oversight is maintained by the election commission that ensures an inclusive democratic participation.
Independent media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, and members of the general public are largely free to openly criticize or challenge the government. Under the NPP-led Dissanyake’s government, public debate is vibrant with many diverse critical voices expressing challenges to the government policy and legislation. The current government does not repress public protests or restrict freedom of speech, with the exception of a few legal frameworks that could likely threaten censorship.
Institutions in Sri Lanka are independent and largely serve as effective checks on the government. The judiciary largely operates autonomously without executive overreach and acts as a reliable safeguard against abuse of power. Institutions do not fail to hold government officials accountable, and the current government did not pass reforms to restrict their operational independence.
In Sri Lanka, the elections are largely free and fair. Major political opposition leaders and parties are able to run and compete in elections without significant barriers. The elections are competitive, with a regular and peaceful transfer of power between the opposition and the main party. Successive governments have not barred mainstream opposition parties from competing in elections. Independent electoral oversight is maintained where international election observers are invited during national elections. The government did not skew the electoral playing field to win a high vote share in the recent elections.
The NPP government has not unfairly barred a real, mainstream opposition party or candidate from competing in elections. In 2024, two national elections were held in Sri Lanka following the political and economic crisis in 2022. Presidential elections in September led to National People’s Power (NPP) candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s win. A record total of 39 candidates (from 22 political parties and 17 as independents) contested in the presidential elections. Parliamentary elections were held in November, where the NPP won 159 out of 225 parliamentary seats, securing a two-thirds majority. In this election, the NPP alliance consisted of the People’s Liberation Front, or Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), youth organizations, women’s groups, trade unions, and civil society organizations. Other political alliances included the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), led by former opposition leader and presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa. The SJB alliance also included candidates from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, one of the major Muslim political parties in the country. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) also participated in the elections, although neither of the Rajapaksa brothers (who contested through the SLPP) participated in the 2024 polls. The Tamil National Alliance, an ethnic political party, contested elections exclusively in the Jaffna district.
Led by Dissanayake, the NPP government has not enjoyed significant and unfair campaign advantages. During the 2024 elections, the then-incumbent government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe was accused of alleged misuse of state resources, including misuse of government vehicles and buildings, attempts to influence government officials, and the scaling-up of populist policy initiatives resembling pork-barrel schemes (wherein government spending is targeted to benefit the voters of a particular constituency in return for their political support). The 2020 parliamentary elections weakened the JVP position further (the major political party of the NPP), where the progressive party remained a minor opposition party, whereas the then incumbent SLPP alliance won 59 percent of the vote, and the SJB alliance won around 24 percent of the votes. While the SLPP promoted its Sinhalese nationalism and ideology, the internal rifts within a major opposition party,United National Party (UNP), just before the electoral campaign period, led to its better performance and vote share.
The current government has not seriously undermined independent electoral oversight. The Election Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL) is an independent constitutional body that oversees all national elections, as per its mandate in Article 104B of the constitution. The Commonwealth Observer Group’s (COG) report and the European Union’s election observer mission (EUEOM) praised the ECSL’s efforts in its conduct of inclusive democratic elections in 2024 and noted an increased sense of trust and satisfaction among stakeholders with its competence. During the 2024 campaign period between July and September, the ECSL received 4,945 complaints from various stakeholders, the bulk of which pertained to the incumbent government of Wickremesinghe and election law violations. Following the complaints, the ECSL issued warnings to several ministries and established complaint mechanisms. In 2020, Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government made several amendments to the constitution, curtailing ECSL’s investigative and enforcement powers that were retained by his successor, Wickremesinghe. However, in response to the widespread protests, two constitutional amendments were passed in October 2022 that rectified issues on electoral oversight, like strengthening independent bodies like the ECSL and reducing presidential overreach.
The government has not skewed the electoral playing field so much so that it generally wins elections with a very high vote share. The NPP alliance won 159 out of 225 seats in the parliament as a result of their manifesto focusing on socio-economic and political transformation following the 2022 economic crisis. During previous successive elections, various opposing political parties won elections with large margins. The 2024 parliamentary elections portrayed a robust picture of the people’s mandate, as seen in the NPP’s margins over the opposition, which won just 40 seats. The presidential election in 2024 was competitive, which resulted in Dissanayake winning the runoff with 55.89 percent of the votes, marking the first time an election victor was not endorsed by either of the historically mainstream parties, the SLFP and UNP. In the 2015 polls, incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost to the opposition coalition’s candidate, Maithripala Sirisena, with 47.58 percent of the votes compared to Sirisena’s 51.28 percent. In 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the presidency with 52.25 percent of the votes, defeating Sajith Premadasa from the then incumbent coalition. Additionally, the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act of 2023 aims to address campaign finance disparities that allow mainstream parties to accumulate excessive funding over smaller parties.
In Sri Lanka, independent media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, and members of the general public are largely free to openly criticize or challenge the current NPP-led government. Major media outlets and civil society organizations are not at risk of illegitimate shutdowns. Protests are largely able to take place without being violently shut down. There is a vibrant public debate across the country, with many diverse critical voices expressing challenges to government policy without the threat of censorship. Isolated hindrances, however, do exist that threaten freedom to dissent through potential legal frameworks.
The NPP government has not seriously intimidated or obstructed the work of independent and dissenting media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, or members of the general public. During previous governments, some dissenting organizations, independent journalists, and opposing political leaders continued to face legal issues, intimidation, and threats by both government officials and non-state actors. In some cases, journalists are threatened with physical and verbal violence. Tamil journalists reporting on government misconduct or dissent against the state were also particularly targeted, some threatened by legal means, disproportionate harassment, and also subjected to heightened surveillance and intelligence monitoring.
Under Dissanayake’s tenure, the government has not seriously and unfairly repressed protests or gatherings. Sri Lanka’s political discourse is vibrant with citizen participation and protests under successive governments. This deviates from the previous administration, when former President Wickremesinghe repressed protests, arrested protesters, and refused to hold local elections after he took office in 2022. Following Wickremesinghe’s taking office, the Aragalaya movement in 2022 catalyzed the widespread mass citizen mobilization that toppled the Rajapaksa political dynasty and resulted in mass resignations from the government, creating a lasting impact on Sri Lanka’s political establishment. Through the course of the movement, the state police often deployed tear gas and water cannons that escalated tensions and led to violent clashes with demonstrators. The NPP alliance was also a key stakeholder in the Aragalaya movement, alongside trade unions and federations such as the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) and the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF). This is seen in NPP members’ participation in July 2022 protests as part of the Aragalaya movement at the Sri Lankan parliament.
The current government has not seriously and unfairly censored dissenting speech. While the civic space has significantly improved since Rajapaksa’s departure, certain legal frameworks enacted under former governments continue to impact freedom of speech and expression in the country today. During the Aragalaya protests in April 2022, the government issued a temporary blackout where internet service providers were ordered to block access to Facebook, WhatsApp, X (formerly known as Twitter), and other social media platforms to stop mobilizations against the government. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka later addressed the issue, as it declared the government cannot impose censorship. The Anti Terrorism Bill of 2023 was put forth by the government to replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act 1979. However, the bill continues to uphold the patterns of severe violations of the past and provides excessive powers to the executive to restrict rights such as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The controversial Online Safety Act, enacted in 2024, severely restricts and regulates online communication by allowing authorities to label expressions they disagree with as “false statements.” The vague definitions for offenses used in the bill can be interpreted arbitrarily, risking criminalization of all legitimate expressions, creating a detrimental effect on the freedom of expression. The Act also established provisions for an online safety commission that assesses compliance of all online content and holds the authority for its removal without judicial oversight, upon violation of national security or public safety, or for promoting false information or fostering “feelings of ill-will and hostility”. In March 2024, a Non-Governmental Organizations (Registration and Supervision) Bill was proposed to the legislature that seeks to require civil society organizations to comply with governmental policy and agenda, leaving them vulnerable to obstruction and censorship if they dissent.
Institutions are independent and largely serve as effective checks on the NPP government. Rule of law prevails, and institutions largely operate autonomously to uphold democratic principles. The judiciary frequently checks on executive overreach and often rules impartially in cases against government dissenters. While occasional breaches of institutional independence exist, these institutions also act as reliable safeguards against abuse of power and government overreach.
Courts have not frequently and unfairly failed to check, or enabled the government’s attempts to repress criticism or retaliate against those who express open opposition to its most prominent, widely publicized policies. The courts in Sri Lanka often granted bail or acquittals to dissenters and government critics. In 2024, a court acquitted 13 individuals who took part in the 2022 Aragalaya movement. In July 2024, the Supreme Court allowed for a hearing on nine fundamental rights petitions that challenged the appointment of Deshbandu Tennakone as the Inspector General of Police over concerns of abuse of office and human rights violations. It issued an interim restraining order that prevented him from taking office. In 2024, the Supreme Court also reviewed the Anti-Terrorism bill of 2023 and established several of its clauses to be unconstitutional or required special procedures, such as a Special Majority or a Referendum.
Judicial, legislative, or executive institutions have not frequently and unfairly failed to hold government officials accountable. The courts made significant rulings that demonstrated the judiciary’s capacity to hold government officials accountable. For example, in January 2023, the Supreme Court ordered that the former President Sirisena and four of his senior officials compensate the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings as they failed to act on foreign intelligence that could have prevented the terrorist attack. In November 2023, the Rajapaksa brothers, along with 13 other high-ranking officials, were handed a symbolic ruling by the Supreme Court, which found they had violated public trust for their roles in triggering the 2022 economic crisis. However, executive overreach was prominent prior to 2022. Under the 20th constitutional amendment provisions, the Rajapaksa brothers centralized executive power, enabling them to mobilize a pro-government parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against then-Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.
Dissanayake’s government has not subjected independent oversight institutions to reforms that abolish or seriously weaken their independence or operational independence. However, the 20th constitutional amendment during Rajapaksa’s government expanded executive power while reducing the accountability powers of independent bodies such as the ECSL. Later, the Aragalaya movement prompted the Rajapaksa government to pass the 21st and 22nd amendments in 2022 that restored certain powers to independent constitutional bodies, such as re-establishing the constitutional council while limiting executive control.
