By The Pulseline News Desk
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s (AKD’s) administration has overtaken the legislative record of former President Maithripala Sirisena’s government during their respective first 18 months in office, despite trailing significantly during its initial months, according to a new analysis by Verité Research.
The study compares the legislative performance of two administrations that came to power on promises of political reform, anti-corruption measures, and improved governance after voters rejected incumbent governments.
“There have been two major instances in the last 11 years when Sri Lankan voters appeared to reject incumbency in favour of radical reform,” Verité Research noted. The first was the election of Sirisena in January 2015, while the second was the election of AKD in September 2024.
By examining the number of Bills gazetted, tabled in Parliament, and ultimately enacted into law, the think tank identified notable differences in how the two administrations approached their legislative agendas.
The findings show that the Sirisena administration moved more aggressively in its opening months. At the six-month mark, it had gazetted three times as many Bills as the AKD administration and had secured the passage of twice as many laws.
However, the pace of legislative activity under the AKD administration increased considerably as time progressed.
According to the study, the turning point came around the nine-month mark, when the current administration began passing more legislation than its predecessor had achieved during a comparable period. By the end of the first 18 months, the Dissanayake administration had enacted 32 laws, compared with 20 under the Sirisena administration.
While Sirisena’s government maintained a lead in the number of Bills gazetted throughout the period under review, the AKD administration proved more effective at converting proposed legislation into enacted laws.
“At the 18-month mark, despite the MS (Sirisena) Presidency still recording a slightly higher number of Bills gazetted, the AKD Presidency converted a much larger share of its gazetted Bills into law,” the report stated.
The study found that during the first 18 months of the Sirisena presidency, 54 Bills were gazetted and 20 laws were enacted. By comparison, the AKD administration gazetted 50 Bills but succeeded in passing 32 into law.
The analysis also highlighted that parliamentary sitting days were broadly comparable during the two periods. Parliament met for 126 days during the period examined under the Sirisena administration and for 136 days during the corresponding period under the AKD administration. Both administrations also oversaw the passage of an interim Budget and a full-year Budget during their first 18 months.
The findings offer an insight into how two reform-oriented governments pursued legislative change after winning elections on similar platforms. While the Sirisena administration initially demonstrated greater legislative momentum, the AKD administration appears to have focused on advancing a higher proportion of its proposed legislation through the parliamentary process.
Verité Research said its analysis was based on information published by Parliament and the Department of Government Printing as of March 5, 2026. The study covered the period from January 20, 2015, to July 8, 2016, for the Sirisena administration and from November 21, 2024, to March 5, 2026, for the Dissanayake administration.
The think tank noted that incorporation Bills, which are primarily used to grant legal status to organisations and associations, were excluded from the analysis. Only legislation relating to public policy matters that was gazetted following the respective presidential elections was included in the comparison.
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