A national list member of parliament (national list MP) is a nominated

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

who is appointed by a political party or an independent group to the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

. The number of national list MPs allocated to a contesting party or an independent group depends on the proportion to their share of the national vote. A total of 29 national list MPs are appointed alongside 196 elected MPs (elected from 22 multi-member electoral districts) making a total of 225 members in the parliament.

History

Following the establishment of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in Ceylon under the

Soulbury Commission The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

, the House of Representatives had six members appointed by the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, on the advice of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

to represent important interests which were not represented or inadequately represented in the House, they were usually from the European and

Burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bu ...

communities and on occasions from the Indian Tamils and Muslim (

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinc ...

or Malays) groups. On a few occasions caste groups from within the Sinhalese and

Tamils The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...

also obtained representation in Parliament as appointed members. In the Senate, 15 members were elected by the lower chamber, the House of Representatives and the other 15 members were appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the

and generally consisted of distinguished individuals. The senators were known as "''Elected Senators''" and "''Appointed Senators''" respectively. The Senate was abolished in 1971. During the

2022 Sri Lankan political crisis The 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis was a political crisis in Sri Lanka due to the power struggle between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the people of Sri Lanka. It was fueled by the anti-government protests and demonstrations by the public ...

, national list MP

Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

was appointed Prime Minister by President

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan military ...

and weeks later succeeded Rajapaksa as President of Sri Lanka, after Rajapaksa fled the country and resigned.

Current national list MPs

All Ceylon Tamil Congress All Ceylon Tamil Congress ( ta, அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. History The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam as ...

* Selvarasa Gajenthiran Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi * Thavaraja Kalai Arasan

Jathika Jana Balawegaya National People's Power (NPP), or Jathika Jana Balawegaya, is an electoral coalition in Sri Lanka. It was established in 2015 by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. It consists of 28 political parties and ot ...

Harini Amarasuriya Harini Amarasuriya ( si, හරිනි අමරසූරිය) is a Sri Lankan academic, rights activist, university lecturer and politician who is serving as a National List Member of Parliament for National People's Power party. She has al ...

Our Power of People's Party Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 16th Parliament. 16,263,885 people were eligible to vote in the election, 31.95% of whom were young voters. The incumbent Sri Lanka People's ...

Athuraliye Rathana Thero Venerable Athuraliye Rathana Thero ( si, අතුරලියේ රතන හිමි: born 5 October 1962), is a Sri Lankan Bhikkhu politician and a member of parliament. He is the only representative from Our Power of People's Party in the ...

Samagi Jana Balawegaya The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (, ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சக்தி, "United People's Power") is a political alliance that is led by the opposition leader of Sri Lanka, Sajith Premadasa. The alliance was formed with the appr ...

Harin Fernando Harin Fernando, MP (born 28 October 1978) is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the current Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Lands He is also a current member of the Sri Lanka Parliament from National List. He previously served as the Minister of ...

Tissa Attanayake Attanayake Mudiyanselage Kudabanda Tissa Attanayake is a Sri Lankan politician, who is a National List member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was first elected to parliament in 1989. Former general secretary of United National Party, Attanayak ...

Ranjith Madduma Bandara Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Ranjith Madduma Bandara (born 25 August 1954) (known as ''Ranjith Madduma Bandara'') is a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was appointed as the cabinet Minister of Law and Order and ...

Mayantha Dissanayake Mayantha Yaswanth Dissanayake (born 11 January 1974) is a Member of Parliament from Kandy District. He was a Provincial Councillor of the Central Provincial Council. He was SLFP organizer to Ampara District under former president Mahinda Rajapa ...

Eran Wickramaratne Eran Wickramaratne, ( si, ඉරාන් වික්‍රමරත්න) ( ta, இரான் விக்கிரமரத்ன) MP is a Sri Lankan banker and politician. He is the former State Minister of Finance and member of Parliame ...

Imthiaz Bakeer Markar Imthiaz Bakeer Markar ( si, ඉම්තියාස් බාකීර් මාකාර් (born 8 August 1953) is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He is a Member of Parliament from the National List of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, he was a ...

* Diana Gamage

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna The Sri Lanka People's Front ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ, translit=Śrī Laṃkā Podujana Peramuna; ta, இலங்கை பொதுஜன முன்னணி, translit=Ilaṅkai Potujaṉa Mu� ...

G. L. Peiris Gamini Lakshman Peiris ( Sinhala: ගාමීණි ලක්ෂ්මණ් පීරිස්, Tamil: காமினி லக்ஷ்மன் பீரிஸ்) (born 13 August 1946) is a Sri Lankan politician and academic. He was the ...

* Sagara Kariyawasam * Ali Sabry * Jayantha Weerasinghe * Manjula Dissanayake * Ranjith Bandara *

Charitha Herath Herath Mudiyanselage Charitha Herath (born 9 September 1967) is current member of Parliament from National List, Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE). and the Professor of Philosophy at the University of Peradeniya. His appoin ...

* Gevindu Kumaratunga * A. J. M. Muzammil *

Tissa Vitharana Upali Tissa Vitharana (born 30 August 1934) is a Sri Lankan politician, former Member of Parliament and former cabinet minister. He is the current leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), a member of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA ...

Yadamini Gunawardena Yadamini Narodhama Rupasinghe Gunawardena is a Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament. Gunawardena is the son of Dinesh Gunawardena and grandson of Philip Gunawardena, both government ministers. He is also the grandson of MP Kusumasiri ...

* Suren Raghavan *

Tiran Alles Tiran Alles, MP is a Sri Lankan businessman and politician. He is a current member of Parliament of Sri Lanka and the Minister of Public Security. Alles had entered politics as an ally of former General Sarath Fonseka and a member of parliame ...

* Seetha Arambepola *

Jayantha Ketagoda Jayantha Ketagoda is a Sri Lankan actor and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He belongs to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna The Sri Lanka People's Front ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ, translit ...

* Marjan Faleel

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lank ...

* Shanthi Sriskantharajah * K. Thurairetnasingam

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

* Vajira Abeywardena

References

{{coord missing, Sri Lanka Electoral districts of Sri Lanka Parliament of Sri Lanka

History

Current national list MPs

See also

References