Today May 22nd is the Republic Day. It was on May 22nd 1972, exactly 42 years ago that the Republic of Sri Lanka was born. It was the day that our country became truly free and independent. Earlier the country was ruled under a Constitution which was forced upon the country by the British colonialists in 1948. When Sri Lanka gained conditional independence on 04th February 1948 from the British colonialists, Sri Lanka was linked to the British Colony through the Constitution. Accordingly there was no recognition for Sri Lanka as an independent state while the head of the Sri Lankan state was the British Monarch. The final decision making body of judicial verdicts were the British Privy Council and the Senate. As soon as the Coalition Government led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party under the leadership of Sirimavo Bandaranaike which came into power at the 1970 General Election, decided to set up a Constituent Assembly in order to draft a new Constitution that accorded with the wishes and aspirations of the people of the country at the election. This new constitution came into force on May 22, 1972. The umbilical cord that tied us to the British Government was severed once and for all, and Sri Lanka became a fully independent country, free of British rule. With the adoption of the new Republican Constitution, the connection with the Privy Council was severed. The Supreme Court was now supreme – the highest judicial body, in the country. The official name of the country – Ceylon since 1815 – was dropped and the old name Sri Lanka was adopted. Accordingly, the Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was established abolishing the Kingdom of Ceylon. Accordingly, May 22nd was declared the Republic Day with Sri Lanka becoming a Republic in the year 1972. Sri Lanka was also declared a unitary State under this Constitution.
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