1972 Constitution of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s first republican constitution, adopted on 22 May 1972, ended the constitutional link to the British Crown and replaced the Soulbury Constitution.

National State Assembly: Sri Lanka’s unicameral legislature under the 1972 Constitution, combining legislative and constituent authority. It was declared the supreme instrument of state power, rather than one branch among coequal institutions.
Soulbury Constitution: The constitutional framework that governed Ceylon from independence until the 1972 republic. The new constitution explicitly displaced this framework and its links to the British Crown.
Republic of Sri Lanka: The sovereign state established when Ceylon became a republic in 1972 and adopted the name Sri Lanka. The constitution’s central change was to establish this republic and rename the country.
1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s current constitution, adopted in 1978, which established an executive presidency and replaced the 1972 Constitution. It reversed key institutional choices by creating a powerful directly elected executive president.
President of Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s head of state, an office created by the 1972 Constitution with mainly ceremonial powers. The constitution replaced the British monarch’s role with a locally appointed president.
Ceylonese independence movement: The political campaign that secured self-government and independence for Ceylon from Britain. Its unfinished republican ambitions supplied an earlier foundation for ending monarchical status.
Buddhism in Sri Lanka: The majority religion of Sri Lanka, given a constitutionally privileged position in 1972. The constitution gave Buddhism the foremost place and required the state to protect it.
Ceylon: The name used for the island state before it became the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. The constitution ended the country’s former name and its dominion-era constitutional status.
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka: The head of government in Sri Lanka, who leads the Cabinet and depends on parliamentary support. Executive power remained centered on the prime minister and Cabinet under the new republic.
United Front (Sri Lanka): The coalition of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Lanka Sama Samaja Party, and Communist Party that governed from 1970. The coalition’s election victory gave it the mandate to convene a Constituent Assembly.

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