 | This article needs to be updated. (December 2021) |
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| Politics of Sri Lanka |
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This article lists political parties in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has a multi-party political system. Starting from the early 1950s, Sri Lankan politics was mostly dominated by two political parties and their respective coalitions:
- the centre-left social democratic Sri Lanka Freedom Party
- the centre-right liberal conservative United National Party
Recently, however, the influence of the two parties has diminished significantly. In 2016, the right-wing populist Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna led by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa split from the SLFP, and following an unexpected victory in the 2018 local elections, replaced the SLFP as a main party, before becoming the ruling party following its victories in the 2019 presidential election and 2020 parliamentary election.
Meanwhile, the UNP suffered a split of its own in the lead-up to the 2020 parliamentary election, when deputy leader Sajith Premadasa split from the UNP and formed the Samagi Jana Balawegaya to contest in the election. The SJB-led coalition won the 2nd most seats in the election, thus making the SJB the main opposition party, while the UNP suffered an overwhelming defeat, only winning one national list seat.
Other notable parties include the far-left Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, the Tamil nationalist Tamil National Alliance and the Islamist Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.