List of political parties in Sri Lanka

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2021)

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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.

Following widespread dissatisfaction with the traditional Sri Lankan political parties amidst the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, in 2024, the left-wing National People's Power, a political alliance led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, saw a surge in popular support. Formerly a third party, the NPP emerged as the main left-wing party of Sri Lanka, winning both the presidential and parliamentary elections that year.^[1]

Other notable parties include the Tamil nationalist Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi and the Islamist Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.

Alliance		Symbol	Political position	Ideology	Founded	Leader	MPs	MPCs	MLGs
	National People's Power ජාතික ජන බලවේගය தேசிய மக்கள் சக்தி		Centre-left to left-wing	Democratic socialism Left-wing populism Progressivism Reformism	2019	Anura Kumara Dissanayake	159 / 225	0 / 455	15 / 8,741
	Samagi Jana Balawegaya සමගි ජන බලවේගය ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சக்தி		Centre	Progressivism Social democracy	2020	Sajith Premadasa	40 / 225	0 / 455	6 / 8,741
	New Democratic Front නව ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ புதிய சனநாயக முன்னணி		Centre-right	Neoliberalism Economic liberalism	1995	Ranil Wickremesinghe	5 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	Sarvajana Balaya සර්වජන බලය சர்வஜன அதிகாரம்		Centre-left to far-left	Big tent Sinhalese nationalism	2024	Dilith Jayaweera	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	Democratic Tamil National Alliance ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානය சனநாயக தமிழ் தேசிய கூட்டணி		Centre-left	Tamil nationalism	2023	—	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	Tamil National People's Front ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතික ජනතා පෙරමුණ தமிழ் தேசிய மக்கள் முன்னணி	—	Centre-left	Tamil nationalism	2010	Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741

Alliance		Symbol	Political position	Ideology	Founded	Leader	MPs	MPCs	MLGs	Notes
	Tamil Progressive Alliance දෙමළ ප්‍රගතිශීලී සන්ධානය தமிழ் முற்போக்கு கூட்டணி		Centre-left	Tamil nationalism Indian Tamil interests	2015	Mano Ganesan	3 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741	Allied with the SJB

Party		Election Symbol	Political position	Ideology	Founded	Leader	MPs	MPCs	MLGs
National People's Power (NPP)
	Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ மக்கள் விடுதலை முன்னணி		Far-left	Communism Marxism–Leninism Anti-revisionism Revolutionary socialism Anti-imperialism Progressivism	1965	Anura Kumara Dissanayake	159 / 225	0 / 455	15 / 8,741
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB)
	Samagi Jana Balawegaya සමගි ජනබලවේගය ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சக்தி		Centre-right	Liberal conservatism Social democracy	2020	Sajith Premadasa	32 / 225	0 / 455	6 / 8,741
	Sri Lanka Muslim Congress ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රසය சிறீலங்கா முஸ்லிம் காங்கிரசு		Centre	Muslim minority politics	1981	Rauff Hakeem	5 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	All Ceylon Makkal Congress සමස්ත ලංකා මහජන කොංග්‍රසය அகில இலங்கை மக்கள் காங்கிரஸ்		Centre	Muslim minority politics	2005	Rishad Bathiudeen	3 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Dayasiri wing) ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி		Centre-left	Social democracy Sinhalese nationalism Left-wing nationalism	1951	Dayasiri Jayasekara[a]	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	Democratic People's Front ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ජනතා පෙරමුණ மக்களாட்சி மக்கள் முன்னணி		Centre	Indian Tamil interests	2000	Mano Ganesan	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	National Union of Workers ජාතික කම්කරු සංගමය தொழிலாளர் தேசிய சங்கம்		Centre	Indian Tamil interests	1965	Palani Digambaran	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	Up-Country People's Front කඳුරට ජනතා පෙරමුණ மலையக மக்கள் முன்னணி		Centre	Indian Tamil interests	1989	V. Radhakrishnan	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
New Democratic Front (NDF)
	People's United Freedom Alliance පොදු ජන එක්සත් නිදහස් සන්ධානය மக்கள் ஐக்கிய சுதந்திரக் கூட்டணி				2024	Dinesh Gunawardene	2 / 225	0 / 455	1 / 8,741
	Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Nimal wing) ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி		Centre-left	Social democracy Sinhalese nationalism Left-wing nationalism	1951	Nimal Siripala de Silva[a]	2 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	United National Party එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி		Centre-right	Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism	1946	Ranil Wickremesinghe	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	Ceylon Workers' Congress ලංකා කම්කරු කොංග්‍රසය இலங்கை தொழிலாளர் காங்கிரஸ்		Centre	Agrarian socialism Indian Tamil interests	1939	Jeewan Thondaman	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
Sarvajana Balaya (SB)
	Mawbima Janatha Pakshaya මව්බිම ජනතා පක්ෂය தாய்நாடு ஜனதா கட்சி		Centre-left	Sinhalese nationalism	2023	Dilith Jayaweera	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA)
	Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization ද්‍රවිඩ ඊලම් විමුක්ති සංවිධානය தமிழீழ விடுதலை இயக்கம்		Syncretic	Tamil nationalism	1979	Selvam Adaikalanathan	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
Tamil National People's Front (TNPF)
	All Ceylon Tamil Congress අකිල ඉලංකෙයි තමිල් කොංග්‍රස් அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்		Centre-left	Tamil nationalism	1944	Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
Other parties
	Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi ශ්‍රී ලංකා දෙමළ රාජ්‍ය පක්ෂය இலங்கைத் தமிழரசுக் கட்சி		Centre-left	Tamil nationalism	1949	S. Shritharan	8 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ இலங்கை பொதுஜன முன்னணி		Right-wing	Neoconservatism Sinhalese nationalism Right-wing populism	2016	Mahinda Rajapaksa	3 / 225	0 / 455	3 / 8,741
	Sri Lanka Labour Party ශ්‍රී ලංකා කම්කරු පක්ෂය ஸ்ரீலங்கா தொழிலாளர் கட்சி				1998	A. S. P. Liyanage	1 / 225	0 / 455	0 / 8,741
	Independent groups ස්වාධීන කණ්ඩායම් சுயாதீன குழுக்கள்		—				1 / 225	0 / 455	2 / 8,741

Party		Election Symbol	Founded	Current leader	MPs	MPCs	MLGs
	All Ceylon Tamil Mahasabha[b] සමස්ත ලංකා දෙමළ මහාසභා அகில இலங்கை தமிழர் மகாசபை		2005	K. Vigneswaran
	Our Power of People's Party අපේ ජන බල පක්ෂය நமது மக்கள் சக்தி கட்சி			Ven.Galgodaatte Gnanasara Thero
	New Independent Front[c] අභිනව නිවහල් පෙරමුණ புதிய சுதந்திர முன்னணி			M. B. Thaminimulla
	Arunalu People's Front අරුණළු ජනතා පෙරමුණ அருணலு மக்கள் முன்னணி
	Eros Democratic Front ඊරෝස් ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ ஈரோஸ் ஜனநாயக முன்னணி
	Eelam People's Democratic Party ඊලාම් ජනතා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පක්ෂය ஈழ மக்களாட்சி கட்சி		1987	Douglas Devananda
	Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front ඊලාම් ජනතා විප්ලවවාදී විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ ஈழமக்கள் புரட்சிகர விடுதலை முன்னணி		1980	K. Pathmanabha Varatharajah Perumal
	United Republican Front එක්සත් ජනරජ පෙරමුණ ஐக்கிய குடியரசு முன்னணி		2023	Patali Champika Ranawaka
	United National Freedom Front එක්සත් ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ ஐக்கிய தேசிய சுதந்திர முன்னணி
	United National Alliance[d] එක්සත් ජාතික සන්ධානය ஐக்கிய தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பு
	Democratic Unity Alliance එක්සත් ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී සන්ධානය ஜனநாயக ஐக்கிய முன்னணி		2004	Z. A. Naseer Ahamed
	United Democratic Voice එක්සත් ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී හඬ ஐக்கிய ஜனநாயகக் குரல்			Ranjan Ramanayake
	United People's Party එක්සත් මහජන පක්‍ෂය ஐக்கிய மக்கள் கட்சி
	United Left Front එක්සත් වාමාංශික පෙරමුණ ஐக்கிய இடது முன்னணி			Jayampathy Wickramaratne
	United Socialist Party එක්සත් සමාජවාදි පක්ෂය ஐக்கிய சோசலிச கட்சி
	United Peace Alliance[e] එක්සත් සාම සන්ධානය ஐக்கிய சமாதான முன்னணி
	People's Struggle Alliance ජන අරගල සන්ධානය மக்கள் போராட்டக் கூட்டணி
	People's Servants Party ජනතා සේවක පක්ෂය மக்கள் சேவகர்கள் கட்சி		2015
	People's Welfare Front ජන සෙත පෙරමුණ ஜனசெத பெரமுண
	National Congress ජාතික කොංග්‍රසය தேசிய காங்கிரஸ்			A. L. M. Athaullah
	National People's Party ජාතික ජනතා පක්ෂය தேசிய மக்கள் கட்சி						1 / 8,741
	Jathika Nidahas Peramuna ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ தேசிய சுதந்திர முன்னணி		2008	Wimal Weerawansa
	National Democratic Front ජාතික ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ தேசிய ஜனநாயக முன்னணி			Aruna de Zoysa
	National Development Front ජාතික සංවර්ධන පෙරමුණ தேசிய அபிவிருத்தி முன்னணி		2000	Dr. Sarath Bandaranayake
	National Peace Front ජාතික සමගි පෙරමුණ தேசிய ஒற்றுமை முன்னணி
	Tamil People's Alliance දෙමළ ජනතා සන්ධානය தமிழ் மக்கள் கூட்டணி			C. V. Wigneswaran
	Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal තමිළ් මක්කල් විඩුදලෛප් පුළිකල් தமிழ் மக்கள் விடுதலைப் புலிகள்		2004	S. Chandrakanthan
	Tamil Social Democratic Party දෙමළ සමාජ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍ර පක්‍ෂය தமிழ் சமூக ஜனநாயக கட்சி
	The Second Generation දෙවන පරපුර இரண்டாம் தலைமுறை			Uvindu Wijeweera
	Patriotic People's Power දේශප්‍රේමී ජනතා බලවේගය தேசபக்தி மக்கள் சக்தி
	Desha Vimukthi Janatha Pakshaya දේශ විමුක්ති ජනතා පක්ෂය தேச விமுக்தி ஜனதா பக்ஷய		1988
	Tamil United Liberation Front[f] ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ தமிழர் விடுதலைக் கூட்டணி		1972	V. Anandasangaree
	New Democratic Marxist–Leninist Party නව ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී මාක්ස්වාදී ලෙනින්වාදී පක්ෂය புதிய ஜனநாயக மார்க்சிஸ்ட் லெனினிஸ்ட் கட்சி
	New Lanka Freedom Party නව ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය புதிய இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி		2020
	Nava Sama Samaja Party නව සමසමාජ පක්ෂය நவ சம சமாஜக் கட்சி		1977	Vikramabahu Karunaratne
	New Sinhala Heritage නව සිහළ උරුමය நவ சிஹல உறுமய		2006	Sarath Manamendra
	Freedom People's Front නිදහස් ජනතා පෙරමුණ சுதந்திர மக்கள் முன்னணி		2022	Nalaka Godahewa
	Pivithuru Hela Urumaya පිවිතුරු හෙළ උරුමය பிவிதுரு ஹெல உருமய			Udaya Gammanpila
	Frontline Socialist Party පෙරටුගාමී සමාජවාදී පක්ෂය முன்னிலை சோசலிசக் கட்சி		2012
	People's Alliance පොදු ජන එක්සත් පෙරමුණ பொது ஜன முன்னணி		1994
	Democratic United National Front ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී එක්සත් ජාතික පෙරමුණ ஜனநாயக ஐக்கிய தேசிய முன்னணி		1990	Ariyawansa Dissanayake
	Democratic People's Liberation Front ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ மக்கட்தலை மக்கள் விடுதலை முன்னணி		1988	D. Siddarthan
	Democratic National Alliance ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ජාතික සන්ධානය மக்களாட்சி தேசியக் கூட்டணி		2009
	Democratic Party ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පක්ෂය சனநாயகக் கட்சி		2013	Sarath Fonseka
	Democratic Left Front ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී වාමාංශික පෙරමුණ மக்களாட்சி இடதுசாரி முன்னணி		1999	Vasudeva Nanayakkara
	Mahajana Eksath Peramuna මහජන එක්සත් පෙරමුණ‍ மகாஜன எக்சத் பெரமுன		1959	Dinesh Gunawardena
	United National Front for Good Governance යහපාලනය සඳහා වූ ජාතික පෙරමුණ நல்லாட்சிக்கான ஐக்கிய தேசிய முன்னணி			Abdul Rahman
	Lanka Sama Samaja Party ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය இலங்கை சமசமாஜக் கட்சி		1935	Tissa Vitharana
	Liberal Democratic Party ලිබරල් ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පක්ෂය லிபரல் சனநாயகக் கட்சி		1987	Kamal Nissanka
	Sri Lanka People's Party ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහජන පක්ෂය ஶ்ரீ லங்கா மக்கள் கட்சி		1984	Asanka Nawaratne
	Communist Party of Sri Lanka ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය இலங்கை இனவாத கட்சி		1943	D. E. W. Gunasekera
	Social Democratic Party of Sri Lanka ශ්‍රී ලංකා සමාජ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පක්ෂය இலங்கை சமூக ஜனநாயகக் கட்சி		2017	Rohan Pallewatta
	Socialist Party of Sri Lanka ශ්‍රී ලංකා සමාජවාදී පක්ෂය இலங்கை சோசலிஸ்ட் கட்சி		2006
	Samabima Party සමබිම පක්ෂය சமபிம கட்சி
	Socialist Equality Party[g] සමාජවාදී සමානතා පක්ෂය சோசலிச சமத்துவக் கட்சி		1968
	Sinhaladeepa Jathika Peramuna සිංහලදීප ජාතික පෙරමුණ சிங்களதீப தேசிய முன்னணி
	Eelavar Democratic Front[h] ඊලවර් ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ ஈழவர் ஜனநாயக முன்னணி		1975	Eliyathamby Ratnasabapathy V. Balakumaran Shankar Rajee
	United People's Freedom Alliance එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக் கூட்டணி		2004
	United Lanka People's Party එක්සත් ලංකා පොදුජන පක්ෂය எக்சத் லங்கா பொதுஜன பக்ஷய
	United Lanka Mahasabha එක්සත් ලංකා මහා සභාව ஐக்கிய இலங்கை மகா சபை			Nath Amarakone
	Lanka People's Party[i] ලංකා ජනතා පක්ෂය இலங்கை மக்கள் கட்சி
	Sri Lanka Progressive Front ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රගතිශීලී පෙරමුණ ஸ்ரீலங்கா முற்போக்கு முன்னணி		1996	J. A. Peter Nelson Perera

• "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.