The New Lanka Freedom Party (, ''Nava Lanka Nidahas Pakshaya'') is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

which was founded by ex-

SLFP The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the ce ...

politician

Kumara Welgama Kumara Welgama (; 5 April 1950 – 28 September 2024) was a Sri Lankan politician who served as a Member of Parliament for the Kalutara District between 1994 and 2024. Welgama had been a minister of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the past from ...

in 2020. The party is known for its close ties with former

president of Sri Lanka The president of Sri Lanka ( ''Śrī Laṅkā Janādhipati''; ''Ilaṇkai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The president is the chief executive of the union governm ...

and former leader of the SLFP

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, President of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. ...

, who, like Welgama, has been a vocal critic of former president

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, (; ; born 20 June 1949) was a Sri Lankan politician and military officer who served as the eighth President of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his Resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resignation on 14 July 202 ...

History

Welgama had been a member of the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the c ...

until 2019, when he defected from the party due to its support for the presidential candidacy of SLPP candidate

in the upcoming presidential elections, paving the way for the return of the

Rajapaksa family The Rajapaksa family () is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the family occupied senior positions in the Sri Lankan s ...

Sri Lankan politics Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including Indo ...

. Welgama instead supported UNP candidate

Sajith Premadasa Sajith Premadasa (, ; born 12 January 1967) is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the current Leader of the Opposition of Sri Lanka and a Member of Parliament for the Colombo District. He is the current leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. Saji ...

. In 2020, Welgama founded his own political party named the New Lanka Freedom Party, which joined the SJB alliance led by Premadasa to contest in the 2020 parliamentary elections. On 5 September, 2022, former president

declared the headquarters of the New Lanka Freedom Party open, located in

Battaramulla Battaramulla is an Urban Area under the administration of Kaduwela and is situated from the Colombo Fort, near the Parliament of Sri Lanka. It is one of the fastest developing administrative, commercial and residential areas in the Colombo Dist ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

References

2020 establishments in Sri Lanka Left-wing nationalist parties Political parties established in 2020 Political parties in Sri Lanka Samagi Jana Balawegaya Sinhalese nationalist parties Social democratic parties in Sri Lanka {{SriLanka-party-stub