The Parliament of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon & Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Constitution, prior to independence on 4 February 1948. Parliament replaced the State Council of Ceylon.

Parliament was based on the Westminster model with an upper house, the Senate, whose members were indirectly elected or appointed, and a lower house, the House of Representatives, whose members were directly elected or appointed. The House of Representatives consisted of 101 members, of whom 95 were elected and six appointed by the Governor-General (increased to 157 in 1960, 151 elected and six appointed). The Senate consisted of 30 Members, of whom 15 were elected by the House of Representatives and 15 appointed by the Governor-General.

The Senate was abolished on 2 October 1971 by the eighth amendment to the Soulbury Constitution. The new Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka, adopted on 22 May 1972, replaced the House of Representatives (and Parliament) with the unicameral National State Assembly. The members elected in 1970, continued to hold their seats in the new National State Assembly until elections were due in 1975. However the ruling coalition used its majority in parliament to extend its term by two years until in 1977 when general elections were held.

See also[edit]

• Legislative Council of Ceylon


• Parliament of Sri Lanka


• State Council of Ceylon

References[edit]

• 
  "CEYLON (CONSTITUTION) ORDER IN COUNCIL". LawNet, Government of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2010-07-16..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
  

External links[edit]

• Parliamentary of Sri Lanka