Topics Covered:
- Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries
President of Sri Lanka- Election process
What to study?
For Prelims and mains: Election, eligibility and procedure.
Context: Sri Lanka’s former wartime defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa, part of the country’s most powerful political dynasty, has been elected president.
The government structure:
Sri Lanka’s government operates under a semi-presidential system, where the president holds widespread executive authority but governs in partnership with a prime minister they appoint and a cabinet recommended by the prime minister.
Election of the President:
The president is directly elected for a five-year term, through a version of Instant-runoff voting in which electors rank up to three candidates, and limited to only two rounds in total.
If no candidate wins a majority in the first round of voting, second and third preferences from ballots whose first preference candidate has been eliminated are used to determine the winner.
Eligibility:
The Constitution sets the following qualifications for holding the presidency:
- If he/she is a citizen having been nominated as a candidate for such office by a recognized political party or elected member of the legislature.
- No person who has been twice elected to the office of President by the People, shall be qualified thereafter to be elected to such office by the People.
Sources: the Hindu.
