 With Wijeweera still underground, however, the JVP had no clear leadership at the time, and it was uncertain whether it had the cohesion to mount any coordinated offensive, either military or political, against the government.Under Bandaranaike the country became a republic, the Free Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka, the Senate was abolished and Sinhala was established as the official language (with Tamil as a second language).Full independence came as the last remaining constitutional ties with the United Kingdom were broken (e.g., the right of appeal to the United Kingdom's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ceased, thus establishing the Supreme Court as the country's ultimate court of appeal).