The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a
centre-left
Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
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, ...
in
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, ...
. Founded by
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of ...
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
centre-right
Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
United National Party
The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka.
Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...
.
Following a
split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enter ...
in the late 2010s and subsequent electoral losses, the influence of the party has since diminished.
The party is generally considered as having a
democratic socialist
Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...
or
progressive economic agenda and is often associated with
Sinhalese nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
parties. The party follows a
non-aligned foreign policy but has historically had close ties to socialist nations.
History
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party was founded in 1951, when long-standing
United National Party
The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka.
Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...
stalwart
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of ...
defected from the party and crossed over to the opposition with several of his other close associates. His party, the
Sinhala Maha Sabha
The Sinhala Maha Sabha () was a political party in colonial-era British Ceylon, Ceylon founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in the mid-1930s to promote Sinhalese people, Sinhalese Buddhist culture and community interests. In 1946, it joined the Un ...
, was dissolved and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party was inaugurated.
After Sri Lanka gained its independence, the SLFP represented a form of non-revolutionary
socialism
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
and a policy of non-alignment with strong ties to socialist countries. Its social democratic and nationalist policies in the aftermath of Sri Lankan independence supported its rapid rise towards attaining major party status alongside the centre-right United National Party. SLFP founder S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike stated that the basis of the party would be the 'Pancha Maha Balavegaya' (Five Great Forces) which consisted of the native doctors, clergy, teachers, farmers and workers.
After winning 9 seats in the
1952 parliamentary election, Bandaranaike contested the
1956 election on a platform of giving true meaning to the independence achieved in 1948. This involved a nationalist, democratic and socialist program which saw the SLFP achieve a huge victory at the 1956 elections and is seen by many observers as a social revolution resulting in the eclipse of the Westernized elite.
Under S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike (1956–1959)
The achievements of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's term of office include the reverting of major defence facilities from British to local control, initiating a shift in Sri Lanka's foreign policy from the
West
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
to the
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...
and lowering the
voting age
A legal voting age is the minimum age that a person is allowed to Voting, vote in a democracy, democratic process. For General election, general elections around the world, the right to vote is restricted to adults, and most nations use 18 year ...
from 21 to 18 years of age.
Working people, a core base of support for the party, also benefited through the setting up of an Employee's Provident Fund and the empowerment of peasants through the Paddy Lands Act. The healthcare and education systems were also improved for the benefit of the common man with the establishment of ayurvedic research centres, recognition of native physicians as well as the allowing of students to learn in their mother tongue (rather than only English).
The S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike government also had a lasting contribution in language policy. In 1956
Sinhala replaced English as the sole official language of Sri Lanka, fulfilling a major election pledge. In reaction to
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
unease to this change, the
Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact
The Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact was an agreement signed between the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and the leader of the main Tamil political party in Sri Lanka S. J. V. Chelvanayakam on July 26, 1957. It advocated ...
was signed to grant official status to the
Tamil language
Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...
as well. However, the agreement was vehemently opposed by hardline Sinhalese nationalists led by the UNP and instead a watered down act was passed.
In September 1959, Bandaranaike was
assassinated
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives.
Assassinations are orde ...
by
Talduwe Somarama, an extremist
Buddhist monk opposed to Bandaranaike's supposed attempts to appease the Tamils. He was replaced as prime minister for an interim period by
Wijeyananda Dahanayake
'Wijeyananda Dahanayake'' ( ; 22 October 1902 – 4 May 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Prime Minister of Ceylon from September 1959 to March 1960.
Born as one of the twin children to a conservative family in Galle, Don Wijeyana ...
.
Under Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1960–1977)
Afterwards, the party turned to Bandaranaike's widow
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (; ; ; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government, world's first fe ...
, who consequently became the world's
first elected female head of government in
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events January
* Janu ...
. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was determined to carry on the program of her late husband and her government pursued several socialist policies during its terms of office from 1960 to 1964 and 1970 to 1977. Sirimavo also initiated the trend of the SLFP forging alliances with other
leftist parties such as the
Communist Party of Sri Lanka
The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (; ) is a communist party in Sri Lanka. In the 2004 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2004 legislative election, the party was part of the United People's Freedom Alliance that won 45.6% of the popular vote and ...
and the
Lanka Sama Samaja Party
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP ( literally: Lanka Equal Society Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist po ...
, a trend which the SLFP continues to this day.
Under Sirimavo Bandaranaike's leadership, SLFP governments
nationalized
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English)
is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
key sectors of the economy such as banking and insurance, the Ceylon Transport Board and also all schools then owned by the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Issues arose during the state takeover of foreign businesses which upset the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
. Consequently, this augmented the SLFP's foreign policy shift towards the
East
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
and the Non-Aligned Movement. Further, in 1972, the SLFP led government oversaw the introduction of a
new constitution which changed the country's name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka and declared Sri Lanka to be a republic.
During her term in office, Sirimavo Bandaranaike achieved high international standing, being chosen as chairman of the
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...
in 1976 and receiving plaudits as the SLFP-led government attempted to mediate between
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
during the
Sino-Indian war
The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...
.
In government, the SLFP had to also overcome a number of challenges to democracy such as the
1962 coup attempt, launched by
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
officers upset by the increasing number of Buddhist officer corp which had previously been three-fifths Christian. Likewise, in 1971 the SLFP-led government was almost toppled by a violent
Marxist insurrection led by the
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; , PLF) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 JVP ins ...
, which was eventually put down after it claimed more than a thousand lives.
Towards the end of Sirimavo Bandaranaike's second term as prime minister, her government had become increasingly unpopular amidst the background of a declining economy and charges of corruption and the SLFP was routed in the
1977 election. This would be the start of the party's 17 years in opposition.
In opposition (1977–1994)
This period of opposition was made greatly difficult after
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
J. R. Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...
's government stripped Sirimavo Bandaranaike of her civic rights for 7 years and expelled her from parliament. As a result, the SLFP fielded
Hector Kobbekaduwa
Hector Senarath Rajakaruna Bandara Kobbekaduwa (29 August 1916 – 17 September 1983) was a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer. He was the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate in the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election and the Ministry of Agricultur ...
as their candidate at the
1982 presidential election, who failed to deliver a strong outcome for the party. The SLFP suffered another blow the same year, when a
referendum
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
to delay parliamentary elections by 6 years was passed. During this period, the party suffered from internal conflicts, with Sirimavo's son
Anura Bandaranaike
Anura Bandaranaike (15 February 1949 – 16 March 2008) was a Sri Lankan politician, who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (2000-2001) and Leader of the Opposition (1983–1988). He held several cabinet ministries: as Foreig ...
, who led the party in parliament after her expulsion, shifting the traditionally socialist party to the
right
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
, while her daughter and future party leader
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. ...
led a breakaway party, the
Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya
The Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (SLMP; Sri Lanka People's Party) is a political party in Sri Lanka, founded in 1984 by Vijaya Kumaranatunga.
History
1980s
Vijaya Kumaranatunga founded the party in 1984 and led it until his assassination in 19 ...
, in response to her brother's shift. In
1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was reelected to the parliament and took the lead again; she became leader of the opposition.
In the early 1990s, the existing UNP government had weakened through internal conflicts of its own as well as the descent into
two civil wars
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.James Fearon"Iraq' ...
and fading public support. New SLFP leaders, most prominently
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...
, had launched successful pada yatra, jana gosha and white flag campaigns against the UNP government during this period. By this time, Anura Bandaranaike had defected to the UNP to receive ministerial appointments, so Kumaratunga, who had returned to the party, was now the undisputed party leader and successor to her mother. Sirimavo Bandaranaike had lost her influence with the electorate and stepped aside as party leader in favor of her daughter.
Under Chandrika Kumaratunga (1994–2005)
During the 1994
parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and
presidential elections, the SLFP saw a successful return to power and Chandrika Kumaratunga was elected the nation's first female president as part of the SLFP-led
People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to:
* People's Alliance ( ''Volksunie''), Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit
* People's Alliance (Bulgaria), a Bulgarian party from 1921 to 1923
* People's Alliance ( ...
coalition. Kumaratunga's tenure marked the beginning of the SLFP's shift from the party's initial socialist policies towards a more
centrist
Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...
philosophy that sought to combine both the free market and the SLFP's traditional people-friendly policies.
[De Silva, K.M. ''A History of Sri Lanka'', Colombo: 2005. .]
The People's Alliance government continued with their predecessor's attempts to negotiate with the
LTTE
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam ...
, whilst simultaneously attempting to
weaken them militarily through force. The SLFP government however initially placed greater emphasis on achieving peace with the Kumaratunga government engaging in numerous peace talks. However, LTTE intransigence limited the policy's effectiveness.
The People's Alliance can be credited however with significant victories on the foreign policy front, with Foreign Affairs Minister
Lakshman Kadirgamar spearheading successful efforts to further isolate the LTTE internationally. Another achievement of the Kumaratunga administration was the establishment of several new public universities.
Despite successes on these fronts, the Kumaratunga government also oversaw territorial losses to the LTTE as well as a flagging economy. As a result of this, a UNP government was elected at the
2001 parliamentary elections. In November 2003, Kumaratunga used her presidential powers to take powers away from Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 a ...
's UNP in the form of important ministries, and the new SLFP-led alliance, the
United People's Freedom Alliance
The United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA; ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ) was a political alliance in Sri Lanka founded by former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2004 and dissolved by former Sri Lankan President Ma ...
, returned to power at the
2004 parliamentary election with future party leader
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...
being appointed as the prime minister.
Under Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005–2015)
A rift opened up in the party in 2005 over the choice of its candidate at the
2005 presidential election between the President Kumaratunga-backed
Anura Bandaranaike
Anura Bandaranaike (15 February 1949 – 16 March 2008) was a Sri Lankan politician, who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (2000-2001) and Leader of the Opposition (1983–1988). He held several cabinet ministries: as Foreig ...
and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Many members of the SLFP had been uneasy with Chandrika Kumaratunga's liberal economic policies,
privatization
Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
of many public institutions as well as several allegations of corruption against her.
Rajapaksa was ultimately selected as the presidential candidate of the SLFP-led United People's Freedom Alliance and was subsequently elected as President.
Under Mahinda Rajapaksa, the SLFP shifted back to the left towards a social democratic program termed 'Mahinda Chinthana'. Some of the companies privatized by the Kumaratunga administration were re-nationalized such as Shell Gas Lanka.
The major legacy of this period of UPFA government was bringing an end to the long-running
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
and the reunification of Sri Lanka. This achievement greatly boosted the popularity of the SLFP, leading to convincing victories in both the
presidential and
parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
polls held in 2010.
In the post-war period, the Rajapaksa administration instituted a large-scale infrastructure and development drive including the construction and renewal of many of Sri Lanka's key roads, mainly using loans from China. In 2011, the construction of Sri Lanka's
first expressway was completed. Likewise, new coal and renewable energy power plants were built, improving the nation's power generation capacity. Tourism received a boost specially in
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 ...
which ranked as the world's fastest growing tourist city in 2015. However, many of these projects launched by Rajapaska (most named after himself) have been called
white elephant
A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, ...
s, being built ignoring feasibility studies: for example, the
Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport built by Rajapaksa only services one budget carrier and was built in the way of a migratory route for birds.
Other policies of the Rajapaksa government include programs to aid farmers and agricultural production, such as the re-launch of the farmer's pension scheme and subsidization of fertilizers.
In the area of foreign policy, the Rajapaksa government was seen to align itself towards the East, in accordance with SLFP tradition. This situation was augmented by the prevailing geopolitical environment, which led some Western nations to criticize the UPFA government regarding accusations of
human rights abuses during the civil war.
During this time the government has been implicated of
political kidnappings and claimed the
Rajapaksa family was becoming a
dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others.
H ...
which ran the country.
The 2010–2015 period of the SLFP-led government was characterized by high economic growth and a reducing
debt-to-GDP ratio
In economics, the debt-to-GDP ratio is the ratio of a country's accumulation of government debt (measured in units of currency) to its gross domestic product (GDP) (measured in units of currency per year). A low debt-to-GDP ratio indicates that an ...
. However, the
IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...
has said Sri Lanka's national accounts "suffer from insufficient data sources and undeveloped statistical techniques" and opposition legislators have accused Rajapaksa of giving overstated growth estimates. One of the top officials in the statistics office was sacked for disobedience and leaking internal information after he said that economic growth data compiled by the office was inflated.
Eventually, allegations of corruption and
nepotism
Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...
saw Mahinda Rajapaksa lose the presidency to SLFP defector
Maithripala Sirisena
Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province, S ...
in
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
, who ran against him with the support of the UNP and other smaller parties. The UNP consequently regained power despite the UPFA still holding a majority of seats in the legislature.
Under Maithripala Sirisena (2015–2024)
Soon after Sirisena's victory, Mahinda Rajapaksa handed over leadership of the party to Sirisena, as per the SLFP constitution which states any SLFP member who is president is automatically leader of the party. Soon afterwards, the SLFP split into two main factions: those who were supportive of president Sirisena and were willing to work with the minority UNP government, and the faction loyal to the Rajapaksas, which acted as the main ''de facto'' opposition to the new regime.
Nimal Siripala de Silva
Nilenthi Nimal Siripala de Silva (born 6 September 1944) is a Sri Lankan politician who held a number of senior cabinet portfolios. He currently serves as the disputed chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. He served as the Leader of the Op ...
was appointed as parliamentary leader of the SLFP and the official
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
.
During Sirisena's term as president, SLFP members came to dominate the
cabinet numerically, albeit largely with lower ranking positions. The SLFP, especially the Rajapaksa faction, was instrumental in revising the
19th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka proposed by the UNP, so as to reduce the powers of the president without transferring executive powers to the prime minister. However, rigorous attempts by President Sirisena and the SLFP to modify the current and largely unpopular electoral system were unsuccessful due to stiff opposition from the UNP and other smaller parties.
On 14 August 2015, Sirisena issued a letter stating that pro-Rajapaksa loyalist and General Secretary
Anura Priyadarshana Yapa had been removed from the post, claiming that Yapa was going against the party policy and disobeying the commands of chairman. As a result, Sirsena appointed his loyalist
Duminda Dissanayake as acting General Secretary 48 hours ahead of parliamentary election, and also obtained
court order
A court order is an official proclamation by a judge (or panel of judges) that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying o ...
to prevent
Anura Priyadarshana Yapa from functioning as General Secretary thereafter until 24 August 2015. Eventually, Sirisena sacked both the General Secretaries of the SLFP and the
UPFA.
In the
2015 parliamentary election, the SLFP-led UPFA won only 95 seats while its opposition, the UNP-led
UNFGG won 106 seats. The
United National Party
The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka.
Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...
, who won the elections, invited the SLFP to jointly create a
national unity government
A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...
and an agreement was signed between the UNP and SLFP. 45 MPs joined the government and 50 MPs including
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...
remained in the opposition, which resulted in a split within the SLFP.
Alliance with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (2019–2022)
By 2018, the influence of the SLFP in Sri Lankan politics began to decline, suffering a heavy loss in the
2018 local government elections and finishing in third place, while the newly formed
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
The Sri Lanka People's Front (; ), commonly known by its Sinhalese name Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is a political party in Sri Lanka. It was the ruling party in Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2022 and was the largest party in Parliament of Sr ...
(SLPP) led by former president
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...
placed first, winning 40% of the votes and securing the most number of seats and local authorities.
In the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election, 2019 presidential elections, though president Sirisena was eligible to run for a second term, the SLFP chose to endorse SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who won the election.
The SLPP, SLFP and several other smaller parties formed a new political alliance, the Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance, to contest in the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections. The new alliance claimed a landslide victory, winning 145 seats in the parliament.
Between 2021 and 2022, however, the Rajapaksa government was beginning to lose much of its popularity. The ongoing 2019–present Sri Lankan economic crisis, economic crisis was only getting worse due to poor mismanagement by the government. By 2021, the foreign debt of Sri Lanka had risen to 101% of the nation's GDP. The government was also becoming highly Nepotism, nepotistic, with Rajapaksa family brothers Basil Rajapaksa as Minister of Finance (Sri Lanka), finance minister and Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister, and several more members of the Rajapaksa family holding prominent positions in the government.
On 5 April 2022, amidst 2022 Sri Lankan protests, increasing 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis, discontent with the Rajapaksa government, the SLPP began losing many of its key allies in the SLPFA, including the SLFP. Maithripala Sirisena pledged that the SLFP would become a neutral party and would contest in future elections separately from the SLPP.
On 11 January 2023, the Freedom People's Alliance was formed, consisting of the SLFP, the Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya led by Wimal Weerawansa and the Freedom People's Congress led by Dullas Alahapperuma. All three parties were parties formerly aligned with the SLPP-led SLPFA who later defected from the alliance. The political alliance was a short-lived one, formed to contest in the 2023 Sri Lankan local elections, 2023 local government elections which ultimately never took place. The Freedom People's Congress would again defect to the Samagi Jana Balawegaya led by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa a year later.
Internal crisis
On 4 April 2024, the Colombo District Court issued an interim injunction temporarily preventing Maithripala Sirisena from functioning as the party chairman until 18 April, following a case filed by former SLFP chairman
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. ...
. A few days later, entrance to the SLFP headquarters in Colombo was suspended to all individuals by the police. On 8 April,
Nimal Siripala de Silva
Nilenthi Nimal Siripala de Silva (born 6 September 1944) is a Sri Lankan politician who held a number of senior cabinet portfolios. He currently serves as the disputed chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. He served as the Leader of the Op ...
was appointed as the acting chairman of the SLFP. On 21 April 2024, the pro-Sirisena faction of the party appointed cabinet minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe acting chairman of the SLFP. Now with two acting chairmen, the internal rift within the SLFP worsened further. Rajapakshe revealed that he received several requests from members of the party's central committee to contest in the 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election, upcoming presidential elections as the SLFP candidate.
On 12 May 2024, Sirisena announced his resignation as chairman of the SLFP, and the pro-Sirisena faction unanimously voted to appoint Wijeyadasa Rajapakse as the new chairman. However, the anti-Sirisena faction of the SLFP still disapproved of the appointment.
In the 2024 presidential elections, the party was split into three factions, with the Sirisena faction supporting Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, running as the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Front in the upcoming presidential election, the Siripala faction supporting then-incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the Dayasiri Jayasekara, Dayasiri faction supporting opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.
Leadership
Chairperson
General-Secretaries
* Bernard Aluwihare
*Saravanamuttu Thangarajah
*Badi-ud-din Mahmud
* Patrick de Silva Kularatne
* J. R. P. Suriyapperuma
* Dharmasiri Senanayake (c.1992 – 24 July 2000)
* S. B. Dissanayake (August 2000 – October 2001)
*
Maithripala Sirisena
Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province, S ...
(October 2001 – 21 November 2014)
* Anura Priyadharshana Yapa (21 November 2014 – 14 August 2015)
*
Duminda Dissanayake (14 August 2015 – 3 June 2018)
* Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa (3 June 2018 – 3 January 2019)
* Dayasiri Jayasekara (3 January 2019 – 5 September 2023)
* ''Dushmantha Mithrapala (acting) (11 September 2023 – 12 May 2024)''
* ''Keerthi Udawatte (acting) (12 May 2024 – present)''
Electoral history
Presidential
Parliamentary
Organization
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Bhikku Sanvidanaya
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Indigenous physicians Organization
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Teachers Union
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Farmers' Organization
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Sewaka Sangamaya
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Medical Group
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Students' Organization
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Fishermen and Domestic Industrialists organization
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Cultural Organization
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Lawyers Organization
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Provincial Council members' Association
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Association of members of local authority
*Sri Lanka Nidahas Management Assistant Union
*Sri Lanka Freedom Graduates Association.
*Sri Lanka Freedom development Officer Association.
*Nil Balakaya (officially dissolved after the 2015 presidential elections)
Publication
* ''Singhale'' – First SLFP journal in 1956 (founding editor Dharma Sri Kuruppu)
*''Dinakara'' – Newspaper
Notes
References
External links
Fifty years with The Masses
{{Authority control
Sri Lanka Freedom Party,
1951 establishments in Ceylon
Political parties established in 1951
Political parties in Sri Lanka
Sinhalese nationalist parties
Left-wing nationalist parties
Social democratic parties in Sri Lanka