Presidential Secretariat (Sri Lanka)

Presidential Secretariat
	Presidential Secretariat building
Agency overview
Formed	1978
Jurisdiction	Government of Sri Lanka
Headquarters	Old Parliament Building, Colombo
Agency executive	Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, President's Secretary;
Website	Official website

The Presidential Secretariat (Sinhala: ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කාර්යාලය, romanized: janādhipati lēkam kāryālaya) is the office of the President of Sri Lanka. It provides the administrative and institutional framework for exercising the duties, responsibilities and powers vested in the President by the Constitution. The Presidential Secretariat is located in the Old Parliament Building in Colombo.

The head of the Presidential Secretariat is the Secretary to the President (also known as the President's Secretary), who is ex officio the most senior civil servant and head of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service. The current President's Secretary is Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.^[1] The post has its roots from the post of Secretary to the Governors of Ceylon and thereafter the Secretary to the Governor-General of Ceylon.

Duties

The President's Office shall be concerned with the following aspects of governance:-

Co-ordinating and reviewing the implementation of Government policy in all sectors;
Monitoring progress in the implementation of specific projects and programmes;
Addressing perceived public aspirations and grievances, and
Maintaining a watching brief over the nation's external relations.

Divisions

The Presidential Secretariat includes the following Divisions:

Agency Co-ordination Unit (ACU)
Chief of Staff Division (COS)
Citizens Services and Grievance Response Division (CSGR)
Constitutional and Statutory Affairs Division (CSA)
Electronic Media Unit (EMU)
Establishment & Operations Division (E&O)
Establishment and Human Resources Development Unit (EHRDU)
Financial and Accounts Division (FAD)
Information and Communication Technology Unit (ICT)
Internal Administration Unit (IAU)
Internal Audit (IA)
Legal Affairs Unit (LAU)
Media Co-ordination Unit (MCU)
Photography and Video Unit (PVU)
Policy Co-ordination and Monitoring Division (PCM)
Policy Research & Information Unit (PRIU)
Presidential Investigation Unit (PIU)
President's Fund (PF)
Presidents Media Division (PMD)
Private Secretary's Division
Public Services Evaluation and Social Welfare Unit (PSESW)
Religious Affairs Unit (RAU)
Secretary Bureau (SB)
Special Projects Unit (SPU)
Strategy and Perception management Unit (SPMU)
Trade Union Unit (TU)

Statutory institutions

The following institutions fall within the purview of the Secretary to the President;

Public Service Commission
Judicial Service Commission
Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
Board of Management for the Superior Courts Complex
Cabinet Memoranda listed in the Agenda and Cabinet Conclusions
Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery/Corruption
Declarations of Assets and Liabilities

Presidential Secretaries

W. M. P. B. Menikdiwela, SLAS (1979–1988)^[2]^[3]
Prematilaka Mapitigama, SLAS (1988–1989)
K. H. J. Wijedasa SLAS (1989–1994)
K. Balapatabendi, PC (1994–2003)
W. J. S. Karunaratne, SLAS (2003–2005)
Lalith Weeratunga, SLAS (2005–2015)
P.B. Abeykoon, SLAS (2015–2017)
Austin Fernando, SLAS (2017–2018)
Udaya Ranjith Seneviratne, SLAS (2018–2019)
P. B. Jayasundera (2019–2022)
Gamini Sedara Senarath, SLAS (2021-2022)^[4]
E.M.S.B. Ekanayake, SLAS (2022-2024)
Nandika Sanath Kumanayake (2024-present)

2022 Sri Lankan protests

On 9 July 2022, during the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, thousands of protesters stormed and occupied President's House and the Presidential Secretariat, Temple Trees (Prime Minister's house) demanding that both president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe resign immediately.^[5]

References

^ "Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake appointed as Secretary to the President". pmd.gov.lk. President's Media Division. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
^ "Dharma Menikdiwela funeral tomorrow". Sunday Times. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
^ "Menikdiwela passes away". The FT. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
^ De Alwis, Nathasha (6 Jul 2018). "Udaya Seneviratne assumes duties as Secretary to the President". News1st/Maharaja Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^ "Sri Lanka PM 'willing to resign' after President's House stormed". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2022-07-09.

External links

[1] "Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake appointed as Secretary to the President". pmd.gov.lk. President's Media Division. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.

[2] "Dharma Menikdiwela funeral tomorrow". Sunday Times. Retrieved 5 May 2022.

[3] "Menikdiwela passes away". The FT. Retrieved 5 May 2022.

[4] De Alwis, Nathasha (6 Jul 2018). "Udaya Seneviratne assumes duties as Secretary to the President". News1st/Maharaja Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 July 2018.

[5] "Sri Lanka PM 'willing to resign' after President's House stormed". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2022-07-09.

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