Leader of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
The Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka is the politician who leads the main opposition party. This is the leader of the largest party not within the government, usually the leader of the second-largest party in the Parliament. The post of Leader of the Opposition is a political office common in countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations. Sajith Premadasa officially took office as Leader of the Opposition on August 20, 2020, after Speaker announces the appointment in parliament. [1][2]
| Leader of the Opposition of Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Inaugural holder | N. M. Perera |
| Formation | 14 October 1947 |
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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Sri Lanka |
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Privileges of office
Salary
In 2016, the Leader of the Opposition received a salary month and other entitlements of a Member of Parliament.[3]
Other privileges
The leader of the opposition is entitled to an official residence, office, transport and security equal that of a Cabinet Minister.[4][5]
Order of precedence
In the Sri Lankan order of precedence, the leader of the opposition is ranked at the level of a Cabinet Minister in the order of precedence.
Leaders of the Opposition (1947–present)
- Parties
United National Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party Lanka Sama Samaja Party Tamil United Liberation Front Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Samagi Jana Balawegaya
| No.
(Terms) |
Opposition Leader | Term of office | Political Party | Government | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Name | Took Office | Left Office | Days | |||||
| 1 |  |
N. M. Perera ඇන්. ඇම්. පෙරේරා (1905-1979) |
14 October 1947 | 8 April 1952 | 1638 | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | D. S. Senanayake | – | |
| Dudley Senanayake | – | ||||||||
| Office vacant | 8 April 1952 | 9 June 1952 | 62 | – | – | ||||
| 2 | .jpg.webp) |
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike එස්. ඩබ්. ආර්. ඩී. බණ්ඩාරනායක (1899-1959) |
9 June 1952 | 18 February 1956 | 1349 | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | – | ||
| John Kotelawala | – | ||||||||
| Office vacant | 18 February 1956 | 19 April 1956 | 61 | – | – | ||||
| S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike | – | ||||||||
| (1) | |
N. M. Perera ඇන්. ඇම්. පෙරේරා (1905-1979) |
19 April 1956 | 5 December 1959 | 1325 | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | – | ||
| Wijeyananda Dahanayake | – | ||||||||
| Office vacant | 5 December 1959 | 30 March 1960 | 116 | – | – | ||||
| Dudley Senanayake | – | ||||||||
| 3 | |
C. P. de Silva සී. පී. ද සිල්වා (1912-1972) |
30 March 1960 | 23 April 1960 | 24 | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | – | ||
| Office vacant | 23 April 1960 | 5 August 1960 | 104 | – | – | ||||
| Sirimavo Bandaranayake | – | ||||||||
| 4 | .jpg.webp) |
Dudley Senanayake ඩඩ්ලි සේනානායක (1911-1973) |
5 August 1960 | 17 December 1964 | 1595 | United National Party | – | ||
| Office vacant | 17 December 1964 | 5 April 1965 | 109 | – | – | ||||
| Dudley Senanayake | – | ||||||||
| 5 | _(Hon.Sirimavo_Bandaranaike_with_Hon.Lalith_Athulathmudali_Crop).jpg.webp) |
Sirimavo Bandaranaike සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක (1916-2000) |
5 April 1965 | 25 March 1970 | 1815 | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | – | ||
| Office vacant | 25 March 1970 | 7 June 1970 | 74 | – | – | ||||
| Sirimavo Bandaranayake | – | ||||||||
| 6 | .jpg.webp) |
J. R. Jayewardene ජේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධන (1906-1996) |
7 June 1970 | 18 May 1977 | 2537 | United National Party | – | ||
| Office vacant | 18 May 1977 | 4 August 1977 | 78 | – | – | ||||
| J. R. Jayewardene | – | ||||||||
| 7 | |
A. Amirthalingam அப்பாப்பிள்ளை அமிர்தலிங்கம் (1927-1989) |
4 August 1977 | 24 October 1983 | 2272 | Tamil United Liberation Front | – | ||
| Office vacant | 24 October 1983 | 8 November 1983 | 15 | – | – | ||||
| 8 |  |
Anura Bandaranaike අනුර බණ්ඩාරනායක (1949-2008) |
8 November 1983 | 20 December 1988 | 1869 | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | – | ||
| Office vacant | 20 December 1988 | 9 March 1989 | 79 | – | – | ||||
| Ranasinghe Premadasa | – | ||||||||
| (5) | |
Sirimavo Bandaranaike සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක (1916-2000) |
9 March 1989 | 24 June 1994 | 1902 | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | – | ||
| Dingiri Banda Wijetunga | – | ||||||||
| Office vacant | 24 June 1994 | 25 August 1994 | 62 | – | – | ||||
| 9 |  |
Gamini Dissanayake ගාමිණි දිසානායක (1942-1994) |
25 August 1994 | 24 October 1994 | 60 | United National Party | – | ||
| Office vacant | 24 October 1994 | 28 October 1994 | 4 | – | – | ||||
| 10 |  |
Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ (b. 1949) |
28 October 1994 | 10 October 2001 | 2549 | United National Party | – | ||
| Chandrika Kumaratunga | – | ||||||||
| Office vacant | 10 October 2001 | 18 December 2001 | 69 | – | – | ||||
| 11 |  |
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake රත්නසිරි වික්රමනායක (1933-2016) |
18 December 2001 | 31 January 2002 | 378 | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | – | ||
| Office vacant | 31 January 2002 | 6 February 2002 | 6 | – | – | ||||
| 12 |  |
Mahinda Rajapaksa මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ (b. 1945) |
6 February 2002 | 7 February 2004 | 730 | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | – | ||
| Office vacant | 7 February 2004 | 22 April 2004 | 75 | – | – | ||||
| (10) | |
Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ (1949–) |
22 April 2004 | 9 January 2015 | 3914 | United National Party | 17th | ||
| Mahinda Rajapaksa | 18th | ||||||||
| Office vacant | 9 January 2015 | 16 January 2015 | 7 | – | Maithripala Sirisena | ||||
| 13 |  |
Nimal Siripala de Silva නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා (1944–) |
16 January 2015 | 26 June 2015 | 130 | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 18th | ||
| Office vacant | 26 June 2015 | 3 September 2015 | 69 | – | – | ||||
| 14 |  |
R. Sampanthan இரா. சம்பந்தன் (1933–) |
3 September 2015 | 18 December 2018 | 1202 | Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi | 19th | ||
| (12) | |
Mahinda Rajapaksa මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ (1945–) |
18 December 2018 | 21 November 2019 | 338 | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | |||
| Office vacant | 21 November 2019 | 3 January 2020 | 43 | – | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | ||||
| 15 |  |
Sajith Premadasa සජිත් ප්රේමදාස (1967–) |
3 January 2020 | Incumbent | 390 | Samagi Jana Balawegaya | |||
| 20st | |||||||||
References
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sajith-premadasa-named-opposition-leader-in-sri-lanka/article30195668.ece
- http://www.colombopage.com/archive_19B/Dec05_1575562134CH.php
- Of Ministers’ Salaries And Parliamentary Perks
- No official residence for Opposition Leader
- Sampanthan finally gets official residence!
External links
- Parliament of Sri Lanka - Handbook of Parliament, Leaders of the Opposition