List of political parties in Sri Lanka

This article lists political parties in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has a multi-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties, with difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. In the last decades, the United National Party and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party have been the largest parties by far. The general rule, however, has become coalition politics, since neither SLFP nor UNP are able to gather parliamentary majorities. Tamil areas are generally dominated by Tamil parties.

As at 27 September 2019 there are 70 registered parties.[1]

Alliances

Parliamentary alliances

	Sinhala name	Tamil name	Symbol	Founded	Leader
Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance	ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පොදුජන සන්ධානය	ஶ்ரீ லங்கா பொதுஜன சுதந்திர கூட்டமைப்பு	N/A	31 October 2019	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Samagi Jana Balawegaya	සමගි ජනබලවේගය	ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சக்தி	Telephone	10 February 2020	Sajith Premadasa
Tamil National Alliance	දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානය	தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு	N/A[lower-alpha 1]	20 October 2001	R. Sampanthan
National People's Power	ජාතික ජන බලවේගය	தேசிய மக்கள் சக்தி	Compass	2015	Anura Kumara Dissanayaka
Tamil National People's Front	ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතික ජනතා පෙරමුණ	தமிழ்த் தேசியத்திற்கான மக்கள் முன்னணி	N/A[lower-alpha 2]	28 February 2010	Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam

Extra-parliamentary alliances

Alliance		Sinhala name	Tamil name	Symbol	Founded	Leader
	Democratic Tamil National Front		மக்களாட்சி தமிழ்த் தேசிய முன்னணி	N/A	4 May 2016	V. Anandasangaree

Defunct/dormant alliances

	Sinhala name	Tamil name	Symbol	Founded	Dissolved	Notes
Democratic National Alliance	ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ජාතික සන්ධානය	மக்களாட்சி தேசியக் கூட்டணி	Trophy	22 November 2009
Democratic Tamil National Alliance[lower-alpha 3]	ජනනායක තමිළ් තේසිය කුට්ටනි	மக்களாட்சி தமிழ் தேசிய கூட்டணி	Brass Lamp			Most members joined the TNA
Left Liberation Front[lower-alpha 4]		இடது விடுதலை முன்னணி	N/A	1998
National Unity Alliance			N/A	1999	2010
People's Alliance	පොදු ජන එක්සත් පෙරමුණ	மக்கள் கூட்டணி	Chair	1994	2004	Most members joined the UPFA
Socialist Alliance	සමාජවාදී ජනතා පෙරමුණ	பொதுவுடைமை மக்கள் கூட்டணி	Clay Lamp	2006		All members part of the SLPFA
Tamil National Liberation Alliance		தமிழ் தனிநாடு விடுதலை கூட்டணி	N/A	22 February 2010	25 June 2011	Members joined the TNA
Tamil Progressive Alliance		தமிழ் முற்போக்கு கூட்டணி	N/A	3 June 2015		All members part of the UNFGG
United National Front	එක්සත් ජාතික පෙරමුණ, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව	ஐக்கிய தேசிய முன்னணி	N/A[lower-alpha 5]	21 October 2001		Most members joined the UNFGG
United People's Freedom Alliance	එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය	ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக் கூட்டணி	Betel Leaf	20 January 2004	9 December 2019	Most members joined the SLPFA

Parties

Parliamentary parties

	Sinhala name	Tamil name	Symbol	Alliance	Founded	Leader
All Ceylon Makkal Congress[lower-alpha 6]	සමස්ත ලංකා ජනතා කොංග්‍රසය	அனைத்து இலங்கை மக்கள் காங்கிரசு	Peacock	UNFGG	2005	Rishad Bathiudeen
All Ceylon Tamil Congress	අකිල ඉලංකෙයි තමිල් කොංග්‍රස්	அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்	Bicycle	TNPF	29 August 1944	Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
Ceylon Workers' Congress[lower-alpha 7]	ලංකා කම්කරු කොංග්‍රසය	இலங்கை தொழிலாளர் காங்கிரஸ்	Cockerel	SLPFA	1939	Arumugam Thondaman
Communist Party of Sri Lanka	ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය	இலங்கை இனவாத கட்சி	Star	SLPFA/ SA	1943	D. E. W. Gunasekera
Democratic Left Front	ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී වාමාංශික පෙරමුණ	மக்களாட்சி இடதுசாரி முன்னணி	Clock	SLPFA/ SA	1999	Vasudeva Nanayakkara
Democratic National Movement[lower-alpha 8]	ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ජනතා ව්‍යාපරය	மக்கட்தலை நாடு இயக்கம்	Motor Car	UNFGG		Aruna de Zoysa
Democratic People's Front[lower-alpha 9]	ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ජනතා පෙරමුණ	மக்களாட்சி மக்கள் முன்னணி	Ladder	UNFGG/ TPA		Mano Ganesan
Democratic People's Liberation Front[lower-alpha 10]	ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ	மக்கட்தலை மக்கள் விடுதலை முன்னணி	Anchor	TNA	1988	D. Siddarthan
Eelam People's Democratic Party	ඊලාම් ජනතා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පක්ෂය	ஈழ மக்களாட்சி கட்சி	Veena	SLPFA/ DTNF	November 1987	Douglas Devananda
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front	ඊලාම් ජනතා විප්ලවවාදී විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ	ஈழ மக்கள் புரட்சிகர விடுதலை முன்னணி	Flower	TNA	1980	Suresh Premachandran
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[lower-alpha 11]	ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දෙමළ රාජ්‍ය පක්ෂය	இலங்கைத் தமிழரசுக் கட்சி	House	TNA	18 December 1949	Mavai Senathirajah
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna	ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ	மக்கள் விடுதலை முன்னணி	Bell	NPP	14 May 1965	Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Jathika Hela Urumaya	ජාතික හෙළ උරුමය	ஜாதிக எல உறுமய	Conch Shell	UNFGG	February 2004	Omalpe Sobhitha Thero
Mahajana Eksath Peramuna	මහජන එක්සත් පෙරමුණ‍	மகாஜன எக்சத் பெரமுன	Cartwheel	SLPFA	1959	Dinesh Gunawardena
National Freedom Front	ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ	தேசிய சுதந்திர முன்னணி	Panchaudaya	SLPFA	2008	Wimal Weerawansa
National Union of Workers	ජාතික කම්කරු සංගමය	தொழிலாளர் தேசிய சங்கம்	N/A	UNFGG/ TPA		Palani Digambaran
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya	පිවිතුරු හෙළ උරුමය	பிவிதுரு ஹெல உருமய	N/A	SLPFA		Udaya Gammanpila
Sri Lanka Freedom Party	ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය	இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி	Hand	SLPFA	2 December 1951	Maithripala Sirisena
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress	ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රසය	சிறீலங்கா முஸ்லிம் காங்கிரசு	Tree	UNFGG	1981	Rauff Hakeem
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization	ද්‍රවිඩ ඊලම් විමුක්ති සංවිධානය	தமிழீழ விடுதலை இயக்கம்	Light House	TNA	1979	Selvam Adaikalanathan
United Left Front	එක්සත් වාමාංශික පෙරමුණ		Canoe	UNFGG		Jayampathy Wickramaratne
United National Party	එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය	ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி	Elephant	UNFGG	6 September 1946	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Up-Country People's Front	කඳුරට ජනතා පෙරමුණ	மலையக மக்கள் முன்னணி	Mammoty	UNFGG/ TPA	1989	V. Radhakrishnan

Other registered parties

	Sinhala name	Tamil name	Symbol	Alliance	Founded	Leader
All Are Citizens All Are Kings Organization	ඔක්කොම වැසියෝ ඔක්කොම රජවරු සංවිධානය	ஒக்கொம வெஸியோ ஒக்கொம ரஜவரு அமைப்பு	Till	N/A		M. B. Thaminimulla
All Lanka Tamil Great Council[lower-alpha 12]	අඛිල ඉලඞ්කෛයි ද්‍රවිඩ මහාසභා	அகில இலங்கை தமிழர் மகாசபை	Ship	N/A	December 2005	K. Vigneswaran
Buddhist People's Front	බොදු ජන පෙරමුණ	பொது ஜன பெரமுண	Cobra	N/A
Citizen's Front	පුරවැසි පෙරමුණ	பிரஜைகள் முன்னணி	Omnibus			Sri Ranga Jeyaratnam
Democratic Party	ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පක්ෂය	சனநாயகக் கட்சி	Flaming Torch		1 April 2013
Democratic United National Front	ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී එක්සත් ජාතික පෙරමුණ	ஜனநாயக ஐக்கிய தேசிய முன்னணி	Eagle	N/A	1990	Ariyawansa Dissanayake
Democratic Unity Alliance	එක්සත් ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී සන්ධානය	ஜனநாயக ஐக்கிய முன்னணி	Two Leaves	N/A
Desha Vimukthi Janatha Pakshaya	දේශ විමුක්ති ජනතා පක්ෂය	தேச விமுக்தி ஜனதா பக்ஷய	Ear of Paddy	SLPFA/ SA	1988
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (Padmanaba wing)[lower-alpha 13]	ඊලාම් ජනතා විප්ලවවාදී විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ	ழமக்கள் புரட்சிகர விடுதலை முன்னணி	Candle	N/A	2000	T. Sridharan, Varatharaja Perumal
Eelavar Democratic Front[lower-alpha 14]	ඊලවර් ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ	ஈழவர் ஜனநாயக முன்னணி	Plough	DTNF
Frontline Socialist Party	පෙරටුගාමී සමාජවාදී පක්ෂය	முன்னிலை சோசலிசக் கட்சி	Sledgehammer	N/A	9 April 2012
Green Party of Sri Lanka	ශ්‍රී ලංකා හරිත පක්ෂය	இலங்கை பசுமைக் கட்சி	Goblet	N/A
Liberal Party of Sri Lanka	ලිබරල් පක්ෂය	லிபரல் கட்சி	Book	N/A	1987	Rajiva Wijesinha
Lanka Sama Samaja Party	ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය	இலங்கை சமசமாஜக் கட்சி	Key	SLPFA/ SA	18 December 1935	Tissa Vitharana
Motherland People's Party [lower-alpha 15]	මව්බිම ජනතා පක්‍ෂය	மௌவ்பிம ஜனதா பக்ஷய	Aeroplane	N/A	2009	Harischandra Wijayatunga
Muslim National Alliance	මුස්ලිම් ජාතික සන්ධානය	முஸ்லிம் தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பு	Pair of Scales	N/A
National Congress[lower-alpha 16]	ජාතික කොංග්‍රසය	தேசிய காங்கிரஸ்	Horse	SLPFA		A. L. M. Athaullah
National Development Front	ජාතික සංවර්ධන පෙරමුණ	தேசிய அபிவிருத்தி முன்னணி	Coconut	N/A	July 2000	Dr. Sarath Bandaranayake
National Peoples Party	ජාතික ජනතා පක්ෂය	தேசிய மக்கள் கட்சி	Electric Bulb	N/A
Nationalities Unity Organisation	ජාතීන්ගේ සමඟි සංවිධානය	தேசிய இனங்களின் ஐக்கியத்துக்கான அமைப்பு	Umbrella	N/A
Nava Sama Samaja Party	නව සමසමාජ පක්ෂය	நவ சம சமாஜக் கட்சி	Table	LLF	1977	Vikramabahu Karunaratne
New Democratic Front	නව ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ	புதிய சனநாயக முன்னணி	Swan	N/A		Shamila Perera
New Sinhala Heritage	නව සිහළ උරුමය	நவ சிஹல உறுமய	Bow & Arrow	N/A	2006	Sarath Manamendra
Our National Front	අපේ ජාතික පෙරමුණ	எமது தேசிய முன்னணி	Telephone	N/A	2009	Upulangani Malagamuwa
People's Welfare Front	ජන සෙත පෙරමුණ	ஜனசெத பெரமுண	Tractor	N/A
Socialist Equality Party[lower-alpha 17]	සමාජවාදී සමානතා පක්ෂය	சோசலிச சமத்துவக் கட்சி	Pair of Scissors	N/A	1968
Sri Lanka Labour Party	ශ්‍රී ලංකා කම්කරු පක්ෂය	ஸ்ரீலங்கா தொழிலாளர் கட்சி	Kangaroo	N/A
Sri Lanka National Force[lower-alpha 18]	ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික බලය	ஸ்ரீ லங்கா தேசிய சக்தி	Flag	N/A
Sri Lanka People's Front[lower-alpha 19]			Flower Bud	N/A		Wimal Geeganage
Sri Lanka People's Party	ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහජන පක්ෂය	இலங்கை மக்கள் கட்சி	Eye	SLPFA/ SA	22 January 1984
Sri Lanka Progressive Front	ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රගතිශීලී පෙරමුණ	ஸ்ரீலங்கா முற்போக்கு முன்னணி	Flower Vase		1996	J. A. Peter Nelson Perera
Sri Lanka Vanguard Party	ශ්‍රී ලංකා පෙරටුගාමී පක්ෂය	இலங்கை முன்னிலை கட்சி	Envelope	N/A
Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal	තමිළ් මක්කල් විඩුදලෛප් පුළිකල්	தமிழ் மக்கள் விடுதலைப் புலிகள்	Boat	SLPFA	2004	S. Chandrakanthan
Tamil United Liberation Front[lower-alpha 20]	ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ	தமிழர் விடுதலைக் கூட்டணி	Sun	DTNF	4 May 1972	V. Anandasangaree
United Democratic Front	එක්සත් ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ	ஐக்கிய ஜனநாயக முன்னணி	Rabbit	N/A
United Lanka People's Party	එක්සත් ලංකා පොදුජන පක්ෂය	எக்சத் லங்கா பொதுஜன பக்ஷய	Cup	N/A
United Peace Front[lower-alpha 21]	එක්සත් සාම පෙරමුණ	ஐக்கிய சமாதான முன்னணி	Butterfly	N/A
United People's Party	එක්සත් මහජන පක්‍ෂය	ஐக்கிய மக்கள் கட்சி	Mobile Phone	N/A
United Socialist Party	එක්සත් සමාජවාදි පකෂය	ஐக்கிய சோசலிச கட்சி	Tri-shaw	N/A	1989	Siritunga Jayasuriya

Unregistered parties

	Sinhala name	Tamil name	Alliance	Founded	Leader
Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist)			N/A	1964
Ceylon Democratic Unity Alliance			N/A	2002	T. V. Chennan
Democratic National Front			DTNF		N. Kumaraguruparan
Democratic People's Congress			DTNF		Praba Ganesan
Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front	ඊළාම් ජාතික ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ	ஈழ தேசிய ஜனநாய விடுதலை முன்னணி	N/A	1987
Muslim Tamil National Alliance			UNFGG		Azath Salley
National Front for Good Governance			UNFGG		Abdul Rahman
People's Freedom Front			N/A	1991
People's Liberation Solidarity Front			N/A	1997	Kamal Karunadasa
People’s Servants Party	ජනතා සේවක පක්ෂය		N/A	June 2015
People's Tamil Congress			N/A		L. P. Shanmuganathan
Revolutionary Workers Party[lower-alpha 22]			N/A	1968
Socialist Party of Sri Lanka			N/A	2006
United Citizens’ Front					Tissa Attanayake
United Lanka Great Council			N/A		Nath Amarakone
United National Alternative Front			N/A	2000

Defunct parties

	Sinhala name	Tamil name	Founded	Dissolved	Notes
All Ceylon Islamic United Front			1960
All Ceylon Malay Political Union			1944
Aziz Democratic Workers Congress
Bolshevik Samasamaja Party[lower-alpha 23]			1948	1950	Absorbed into the Lanka Sama Samaja Party
Buddhist Republican Party			1952
Ceylon National Congress		இலங்கை தேசிய காங்கிரஸ்	11 December 1919
Lanka Democratic Party		இலங்கை சனநாயகக் கட்சி			Absorbed into the Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party
Lanka Mahajana Sabha			1919
Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Alternative Group)
Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary)			1964
Muslim United Liberation Front
National Alliance
National Democratic Movement
National Democratic People's Alliance		தேசிய ஜனநாயக மக்கள் கூட்டமைப்பு	4 February 2008
National Liberation Front
New Democratic Party
New National Front			2011
People's Front of Liberation Tigers		விடுதலைப் புலிகள் மக்கள் முன்னணி	1989
Sinhala Heritage					Absorbed into the Jathika Hela Urumaya
Sinhala Maha Sabha	සිංහල මහා සභා	சிங்கள மகா சபை	1936		Absorbed into the United National Party
Sri Lanka Freedom Socialist Party			1964		Absorbed into the United National Party
Sri Lanka National Congress			2009	2011	Absorbed into the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Sri Lanka Sama Samaja Party			1982	1983	Absorbed into the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
United Lanka Congress
United Muslim People's Alliance
United National Alliance
Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party			1950	1959	Absorbed into the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna
Workers' Liberation Front	කම්කරැ පක්ෂය				A.E.Gunasinghe\|

Notes

The TNA contests under the name and house symbol of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi.
The TNPF contests under the name and bicycle symbol of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress.
Formerly Tamil Democratic National Alliance.
Formerly New Left Front, Left Front.
The UNF contests under the name and elephant symbol of the United National Party.
Formerly All Ceylon Muslim Congress.
Formerly Ceylon Indian Congress.
Formerly Ruhuna People's Party.
Formerly Western People's Front.
Political wing of People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam.
Also known as the Federal Party.
Formerly All Lanka Tamil United Front.
Previously Varatharaja wing.
Political wing of Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students.
Formerly Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya.
Also known as National Muslim Congress.
Formerly Revolutionary Communist League.
Formerly Patriotic National Front.
Formerly Sri Lanka National Front, Our Sri Lanka Freedom Front.
Formerly Tamil United Front.
Formerly Muslim Liberation Front.
Formerly Revolutionary Samasamaja Party.
Formerly Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma.

References

"Political parties". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2012-08-05.
"Sri Lanka". Leftist Parties of the World. 22 June 2004. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2004.
"The List of Political Party/Group in Sri Lanka (1945-2004)". Sri Lanka Statistics.

https://elections.gov.lk/web/en/political-parties/recognized-political-parties/

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[2] The TNA contests under the name and house symbol of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi.

[3] The TNPF contests under the name and bicycle symbol of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress.

[4] Formerly Tamil Democratic National Alliance.

[5] Formerly New Left Front, Left Front.

[6] The UNF contests under the name and elephant symbol of the United National Party.

[7] Formerly All Ceylon Muslim Congress.

[8] Formerly Ceylon Indian Congress.

[9] Formerly Ruhuna People's Party.

[10] Formerly Western People's Front.

[11] Political wing of People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam.

[12] Also known as the Federal Party.

[13] Formerly All Lanka Tamil United Front.

[14] Previously Varatharaja wing.

[15] Political wing of Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students.

[16] Formerly Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya.

[17] Also known as National Muslim Congress.

[18] Formerly Revolutionary Communist League.

[19] Formerly Patriotic National Front.

[20] Formerly Sri Lanka National Front, Our Sri Lanka Freedom Front.

[21] Formerly Tamil United Front.

[22] Formerly Muslim Liberation Front.

[23] Formerly Revolutionary Samasamaja Party.

[24] Formerly Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma.

[1] ttps://elections.gov.lk/web/en/political-parties/recognized-political-parties/

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