Mayor of Colombo
Incumbent
vacant
since 19 March 2023[1][2]
Colombo Municipal Council
StyleHis/ Her Worship
ResidenceSirinivasa
SeatTown Hall, Colombo
Constituting instrumentMunicipal Council Ordinance No. 17 of 1865
Formation1866
First holderCharles Peter Layard
DeputyVacant

The Mayor of Colombo is the elected head of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The mayor is assisted by the deputy mayor and a Municipal Commissioner. Since 1944 all but two of the mayors that have served have been from the United National Party (UNP), with one being a UNP-backed independent.

Election

The mayor is elected in a general election held under the Local Authority Election Ordinance from the party gaining the highest number of seats in the municipal council. Once elected the mayor may hold office for four years.[3]

Powers and functions

Most powers are derived from the Municipal Council Ordinance No. 29 of 1947. The Mayor serves as the chief executive of the municipal council.[3]

The municipal council is responsible for:

Rights and privileges

The mayoral office is located at the Colombo Town Hall and the official mayoral residence is Sirinivasa. The mayor's legal title is His/Her Worship the Mayor of Colombo.

Under the provisions of the Municipal Councils Ordinance the mayor and deputy mayor are ex-official Justice of the Peace and Unofficial Magistrates for the administrative district in which the municipality is situated for the duration of their tenure. This is provided so that the mayor or deputy mayor may preside over the municipal magistrate's court.[3]

Official dress

On formal occasions the Mayor wears a scarlet gown with the Mayoral Chain of Office.

Salary

The Mayor of Colombo's salary is Rs 30,000 per month, which is same of all mayors of municipalities in Sri Lanka.[4]

List of mayors

Parties

  United National Party   Sri Lanka Freedom Party   Independent

Chairmen
Name Portrait Took office Left office Refs
Charles Peter Layard January 1866 June 1877 [5]
Frederick Richard Saunders July 1877 December 1883
William Dumaresq Wright January 1884 6 August 1886
G. S. Williams August 1886 August 1887
George Thomas Michael O'Brien September 1887 September 1887
Lionel Frederick Lee October 1887 November 1887
Hardinge Hay Cameron November 1887 September 1893
Charles Edward Ducat Pennycuick October 1893 April 1895
Ferdinando Hamblyn Price May 1895 March 1901
Arthur Sampson Pagden April 1901 February 1905
E. M. de C. Short March 1905 May 1910
K. W. B. McLeod May 1910 April 1912
C. R. Cumberland May 1912 November 1912
W. E. Thorpe December 1912 January 1913
E. B. Alexander February 1913 October 1913
R. W. Byrde November 1913 September 1919
T. Reid October 1919 July 1924
Hubert Ernest Newnham August 1924 July 1931
Walter Terence Stace July 1931 March 1932
William Lindsay Murphy March 1932 March 1935
William Lindsay Murphy November 1935 May 1937
Mayors
Name Portrait Party Took office Left office Refs
Ratnasothy Saravanamuttu May 1937 December 1937 [6][7][8]
V. R. S. Schokman January 1938 December 1939 [9][10]
A. E. Goonesinghe January 1940 December 1940 [11]
Ratnasothy Saravanamuttu January 1941 December 1942
George R. de Silva January 1943 December 1943
R. A. de Mel January 1944 December 1944
R. S. F. de Mel January 1945 December 1945
R. A. de Mel January 1946 December 1946
R. S. F. de Mel January 1947 December 1949
Kumaran Ratnam January 1950 December 1950
S. Sellamuttu January 1951 December 1951 [12][13][14]
C. T. Grero January 1952 11 August 1953 [15]
T. Rudra 21 September 1953 13 August 1954 [16][17]
N. M. Perera Lanka Sama Samaja Party 13 August 1954 28 February 1956 [18][19][20]
V. A. Sugathadasa United National Party 6 March 1956 1 December 1957 [21][22][23]
M. H. Mohamed United National Party 12 January 1960 10 January 1963
V. A. Sugathadasa United National Party 10 January 1963 10 April 1965
Vincent Perera United National Party 10 April 1965 1966 [24][25]
Jabir A. Cader United National Party 1966 1969 [26]
Vincent Perera United National Party 1970 1973
A. H. M. Fowzie United National Party 1974 1977 [27][28][29]
B. Sirisena Cooray United National Party 1979 1989 [30][31][32]
M. Hussain Mohamad United National Party 1989 1991 [33][34]
Ratnasiri Rajapakse United National Party 1991 1994 [35][36][37]
K. Ganeshalingam United National Party June 1996 March 1997 [38][39][40]
Karu Jayasuriya United National Party 1997 1999 [41][42][43]
Omar Kamil United National Party 1999 2002 [44][45][46]
Prasanna Gunawardena United National Party 3 June 2002 2006 [47][48]
Uvais Mohamed Imitiyas Independent UNP-backed 2 June 2006 2010 [49][50][51]
A. J. M. Muzammil United National Party 17 October 2011 31 March 2016 [52][53]
Rosy Senanayake United National Party 6 March 2018 19 March 2023 [1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Rosy to be new mayor". The Sunday Leader. 21 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Rosy becomes first female Mayor of Colombo – LankaPuvath". 20 March 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Municipal Council Ordinance
  4. ^ "Hiru News Official Web Site - Most visited website in Sri Lanka". Hiru News.
  5. ^ "Charles Peter Layard". Genealogy.links.org. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  6. ^ Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon (PDF). pp. 181–182.
  7. ^ "He gave of his best, but died a disillusioned man". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 28 May 2000.
  8. ^ Maniccavasagar, Chelvatamby (24 February 2012). "Colombo Municipal Council's 147th anniversary". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
  9. ^ "Our New President" (PDF). Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon. XXXV (4): 97. April 1946.
  10. ^ "Mayoral Election in Colombo". The Straits Times. 13 February 1939. p. 16.
  11. ^ Jayasekera, Upali S. (1 May 2013). "Father of the Labour Movement". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  12. ^ Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon (PDF). p. 187.
  13. ^ Maniccavasagar, Chelvatamby (5 September 2013). "Paying homage to Lord Ganesha". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
  14. ^ Jayanetti, Lalith (4 October 2003). "Ceylon Theatres marks 75 years". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  15. ^ Salgado, Upali K. (19 October 2011). ""Once Upon A Time" – Colombo And Nostalgic Memories". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  16. ^ Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon (PDF). p. 166.
  17. ^ "Rajapakse navigates a consensus, UNP girds to fight for CMC". The Island (Sri Lanka). 7 May 2006.
  18. ^ Abeynayake, Stanley E. (30 April 2006). "Dr. N. M. Perera: The first Leftist Mayor of Colombo". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka).
  19. ^ Wijenayake, Walter (13 August 2009). "Dr. N. M. Perera: a politician ahead of his times". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  20. ^ Perera, Ravi (30 June 2015). "NM at 110". Daily FT.
  21. ^ Ganegoda, Ariyaratne (10 July 2012). "V.A.Sugathadasa Commemoration". Ceylon Today.
  22. ^ Perera, Yohan (17 October 2011). "Mayor could do many things: Ranil". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  23. ^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (15 June 2008). "Last TULF Leader standing: Sangaree at 75". The Nation (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 20 February 2014.
  24. ^ "The man behind the specs". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 28 May 2006.
  25. ^ Ranatunga, D. C. (7 May 2011). "Engineer's 'digs' in UK for a Colombo street name". Daily FT.
  26. ^ Weerakoon, Gamini (11 January 2009). "Lasantha: A classic case of publish and be damned". The Sunday Leader.
  27. ^ "The name game". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 14 March 1999.
  28. ^ Wedaarachchi, L. S. Ananda (18 September 2011). "Six former Mayors back Milinda Moragoda". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka).
  29. ^ "The new Mayor of Colombo". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 12 July 2006.
  30. ^ Ferdinando, Shamindra (2 February 2006). "Mini battle for Key to Colombo city". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  31. ^ Fernando, Basil (25 July 2012). "On the 23rd of Black July, one man destroyed his nation". Sri Lanka Guardian.
  32. ^ "Sirisena Cooray is back in the UNP Central Committee". Asian Tribune. 22 September 2005.
  33. ^ Rasooldeen, M. D. (18 March 2014). "Sri Lanka nominates new ambassador to KSA". Arab News.
  34. ^ "Free spectacles were distributed at the Sri Lanka Islamic Centre, Maligawatte to mark the former Speaker and Minister M.H. Mohamed's 93rd birthday..." Daily FT. 21 June 2014.
  35. ^ "Ex-Colombo Mayor passes away". The Island (Sri Lanka). 15 September 2003.
  36. ^ "News in brief". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 13 September 2003.
  37. ^ "'Siri Aiya' who revived the JVP". Daily FT. 18 April 2015.
  38. ^ "Bullets after bullets hit UNP". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 16 February 1997.
  39. ^ Satyapalan, Franklin R. (3 September 2011). "Mrs. Yamuna Ganeshalingam contests CMC on UPFA ticket". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  40. ^ Maniccavasgar, Chelvathamy (3 January 2012). "K Ganeshalingam's 74th birth anniversary: Multi-faceted and multi-dimensional personality". Daily News (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  41. ^ Peiris, Roshan (30 March 1997). "Going for the old world charm". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  42. ^ "Why Karu Jayasuriya Should Lead the UNP". The Island (Sri Lanka). 16 January 2006.
  43. ^ "Karu Jayasuriya's journey to 'political hell'". Ceylon Today. 22 June 2014.
  44. ^ "Colombo taxi drivers rebel over uniforms". BBC News. 13 August 2000.
  45. ^ "Omar Kamil elected MICH president". The Island (Sri Lanka). 3 September 2008.
  46. ^ "Colombo Mayor thanks citizens". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 8 December 2001.
  47. ^ "The Island". The Island (Sri Lanka). 4 June 2002.
  48. ^ "UNP Colombo Central Operational Headquarters inaugurated". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 5 November 2005.
  49. ^ "New Colombo Mayor sworn in". BBC Sinhala. 2 June 2006.
  50. ^ Gunaratna, Harischandra (3 June 2006). "Cooray swears in new Mayor". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  51. ^ "Put your hands together… His Worship, The Mayor". The Nation (Sri Lanka). 4 June 2006.
  52. ^ "Muzammil as Mayor of the CMC". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 17 October 2011.
  53. ^ "Dressing up His Worship!". Daily FT. 18 October 2011.

Sources

External links

Mayors in Sri Lanka
Colombo
Categories