Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna

The Sri Lanka National Front (Sri Lanka Jathika Peramuna) contested the 2001 Sri Lankan parliamentary election in 15 of the 22 electoral districts across the country. The party failed to win a single seat in the Parliament of Sri Lanka after securing 719 votes (about 0.01% of all votes cast).{{cite web|title=Results of Parliamentary General Election – 2001|url=http://www.slelections.gov.lk/web/images/pdf/election_results/PE/Parliamentary_Elections_2001.pdf|publisher=Election Commission of Sri Lanka|access-date=17 December 2017|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}} The SLNF contested again in the 2004 Sri Lankan parliamentary election in 17 of the 22 electoral districts but once again failed to win any seats in Parliament after securing 493 votes (0.01%).{{cite web|title=Results of Parliamentary General Election – 2004|url=http://www.slelections.gov.lk/web/images/pdf/election_results/PE/Parliamentary_Elections_2004.pdf|publisher=Election Commission of Sri Lanka|access-date=17 December 2017|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}} SLNF leader Wimal Geeganage contested the 2005 Sri Lankan presidential election and came in eighth after securing 6,639 votes (0.07%).{{cite web|title=Results Of Presidential Election – 2005 (Summary)|url=http://www.slelections.gov.lk/web/images/pdf/past-presidential-election-results/result-of-presidential-election-2005(summary).pdf|publisher=Election Commission of Sri Lanka|access-date=17 December 2017|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}

The SLNF contested the 2010 Sri Lankan parliamentary election in 19 of the 22 electoral districts but failed to win any seats in Parliament after securing 5,313 votes (0.07%) across the country.{{cite web|title=Results of Parliamentary General Election – 2010|url=http://www.slelections.gov.lk/web/images/pdf/election_results/GE/ParliamentaryElections2010.pdf|publisher=Election Commission of Sri Lanka|access-date=17 December 2017|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}} Geeganage contested in the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election and came in last place, at 19th, after securing 1,826 votes (0.02%).{{cite web|title=Results Of Presidential Election – 2015|url=http://www.slelections.gov.lk/web/images/pdf/election_results/PE/PresidentialElections2015.pdf|publisher=Election Commission of Sri Lanka|access-date=17 December 2017|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}

In 2015, the SLNF changed its name to Our Sri Lanka Freedom Front (Ape Sri Lanka Nidahas Peramuna) and its symbol from the cricket bat to a flower bud.{{cite news|title=If UPFA nomination foils; Mahinda prepared to contest through 'budding flower'|url=http://www.adaderana.lk/news/31507/if-upfa-nomination-foils-mahinda-prepared-to-contest-through-budding-flower|access-date=17 December 2017|work=Ada Derana|date=7 July 2015|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}{{cite news|title=G.L. Peiris to Chair Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna changed|url=https://puvath.lk/news/217763/hl/en|access-date=17 December 2016|work=Puvath.lk|date=November 2016}} In early 2016, OSLFF leader Geeganage hinted that a change in the party leadership was soon to come.{{cite news|last1=Fernando|first1=Tharushan|title=Contention in political circles over budding new political party|url=http://newsfirst.lk/english/2016/02/contention-in-political-circles-over-budding-new-political-party/127076|access-date=17 December 2017|work=News First|date=2 February 2016|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}

In November 2016, the OSLFF relaunched itself as the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, a political front for the Joint Opposition, and appointed G. L. Peiris, the country's former minister of foreign affairs and Rajapaksa ally, as its chairman.{{cite news|title=GL named Chairman of Podujana Peramuna|url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/GL-named-Chairman-of-Podujana-Peramuna-118561.html|access-date=17 December 2017|work=The Daily Mirror|date=2 November 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Sri Abeyratne|first1=Dharma|title=Renamed political party under GL's chairmanship|url=https://dailynews.lk/2016/11/03/law-order/97935?page=10|access-date=17 December 2017|work=Daily News|date=3 November 2016|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}} Attorney Sagara Kariyawasam, a former organizer of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and attorney for former president Rajapaksa and his brother, former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa,{{cite news |last1=Jayakody |first1=Rasika |date=14 February 2016 |title=SLFP cracks down on dissidents as pro-MR party suffers birth-pangs |work=Sunday Observer |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka |url=https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2016/02/14/fea01.asp |access-date=17 December 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Fonseka |first1=Piyumi |date=26 July 2015 |title=MR sends Letters of Demand |work=The Daily Mirror |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka |url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/80961/mr-sends-letters-of-demand |access-date=17 December 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Ramakrishnan |first1=T. |date=24 April 2015 |title=Gotabaya Rajapaksa appears before anti-graft body |work=The Hindu |location=Chennai, India |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/gotabaya-rajapaksa-appears-before-antigraft-body/article7135854.ece |access-date=17 December 2017}} was appointed as the party secretary. The flower bud remained as the symbol of the party.{{cite news|last1=Dharmasena|first1=Ranil|title=Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna formed|url=http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=154867|access-date=17 December 2017|work=The Island|date=3 November 2016|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}{{cite news|title='Our Sri Lanka Freedom Front' changes name; GL named Chairman|url=http://www.adaderana.lk/news/37661/our-sri-lanka-freedom-front-changes-name-gl-named-chairman|access-date=17 December 2017|work=Ada Derana|date=2 November 2016}} Basil Rajapaksa, another brother of Rajapaksa, joined the SLPP shortly after it was relaunched.{{cite news|title=Basil Rajapaksa Joins Sri Lanka Podujana Permauna|url=http://www.hirunews.lk/147705/basil-rajapaksa-joins-sri-lanka-podujana-peramuna|access-date=17 December 2017|work=Hiru News|date=17 November 2016|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}

In the 2018 Sri Lankan local elections, in a surprise result, the SLPP won a 40% plurality of votes, emerging as the party with the most councilors and local authorities;{{cite news|last=Imtiaz|first=Zahrah|date=14 February 2018|url=http://www.dailynews.lk/2018/02/14/local/142796/over-180-local-govt-hung-councils|title=Over 180 Local Govt. hung councils|work=Daily News|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka|access-date=6 May 2018}}{{cite news|last=Kanakarathna|first=Thilanka|date=6 March 2018|url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/LG-Election-SLPP-obtained-votes-media-miscalculated-Champika-146817.html|title=LG Election: SLPP obtained 40% votes; media miscalculated: Champika|work=The Daily Mirror|location=Colombo, Sri Lankaaccess-date=6 May 2018}} they won 239 Local Government Bodies including Municipals Councils, Urban Councils, and Pradeshiya Sabhas.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/SLPP-wins-LG-bodies-UNP--145619.html|title=SLPP wins 239 LG bodies, UNP 41|work=Daily Mirror|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka|access-date=14 July 2023}} The SLPP contested in the election under its flower bud symbol.{{cite news|title=Podu Jana Peramuna submits nominations|url=https://www.newsradio.lk/2017/12/13/podu-jana-peramuna-submits-nominations/|access-date=7 January 2017|work=News Radio|date=13 December 2017|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107175102/https://www.newsradio.lk/2017/12/13/podu-jana-peramuna-submits-nominations/ |archive-date=2018-01-07}} In the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election, the younger brother of the Rajapaksas contested in the elections as the SLPP candidate and later won the election and was sworn in as the new president of Sri Lanka.{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2020/03/05/sri-lankas-ruling-party-calls-an-election-hoping-for-a-landslide|title = Sri Lanka's ruling party calls an election, hoping for a landslide|newspaper = The Economist|date = 5 March 2020}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/17/world/asia/sri-lanka-Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-election.html|title = Gotabaya Rajapaksa Wins Sri Lanka Presidential Election|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 17 November 2019|last1 = Bastians|first1 = Dharisha|last2 = Schultz|first2 = Kai}} In the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, the SLPP won a landslide victory and a clear majority in the parliament, winning 116 seats in Parliament. Five members of the Rajapaksa family won seats in the parliament, and the former president Rajapaksa was sworn in as the new prime minister of Sri Lanka.{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/9/mahinda-rajapaksa-sworn-in-as-sri-lankas-pm-after-record-victory|title = Mahinda Rajapaksa sworn in as Sri Lanka's PM}}

{{main|Sri Lankan economic crisis (2019–present)}}

The Rajapaksa administration introduced massive tax cuts in late 2019,{{cite news |title=Cabinet announces massive tax cuts |publisher=newsfirst.lk |url=https://www.newsfirst.lk/2019/11/27/cabinet-announces-massive-tax-cuts/ |url-status=live |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415231722/https://www.newsfirst.lk/2019/11/27/cabinet-announces-massive-tax-cuts/ |archive-date=15 April 2022}} which lead to a drop in government revenue that was soon compounded with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the island nation losing its lucrative US$3 billion tourism industry that put 200,000 out of work in 2020 and most of 2021. Although the export sector picked up by 2021 and tourism started picking up, it appeared that Sri Lanka was facing its most severe economic crisis since its independence in 1948 due to the loss of revenue from tax cuts, rampant money printing and unsustainable borrowings. By end of 2021, Sri Lanka was facing a debt crisis with a possibility of sovereign default. According to a poll conducted by Verité Research in March 2022, the government's approval rating had fallen to just 10% as a result of the crisis.{{cite news |title=Only 10% approve the way current government is working – Survey reveals |publisher=Ada Derana |url=http://bizenglish.adaderana.lk/only-10-approve-the-way-current-government-is-working-survey-reveals/ |url-status=live |access-date=17 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323131255/http://bizenglish.adaderana.lk/only-10-approve-the-way-current-government-is-working-survey-reveals/ |archive-date=23 March 2022}}

Following severe shortages of fuel, the state owned Ceylon Electricity Board was forced to implement 10–13 hour power cuts across the island in late March. The SLPP government was beginning to grow increasingly unpopular. This triggered the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, which demanded the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and other key officials from the Rajapaksa family.{{cite news |last=Dhillon |first=Amrit |date=1 April 2022 |title=Sri Lanka: 50 injured as protesters try to storm president's house amid economic crisis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/01/sri-lanka-protesters-try-to-storm-presidents-house-as-economic-crisis-deepens |access-date=3 April 2022 |work=The Guardian}}{{cite news |date=13 March 2022 |title=Main opposition SJB to hold mass protest rally in Colombo |work=NewsWire |url=https://www.newswire.lk/2022/03/13/main-opposition-sjb-to-hold-mass-protest-rally-in-colom/ |access-date=1 April 2022}}{{cite news |title=Dozens arrested in Sri Lanka amid protests over worsening economy |publisher=Aljazeera |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/31/tear-gas-as-sri-lanka-protesters-try-to-storm-presidents-house |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403112110/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/31/tear-gas-as-sri-lanka-protesters-try-to-storm-presidents-house |archive-date=3 April 2022}} On 3 April, several ministers in the second Gotabaya Rajapaksa cabinet submitted their resignations. This included three ministers from the Rajapaksa family: Chamal Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa, and Namal Rajapaksa.{{cite news |date=3 April 2022 |title=Sri Lanka's cabinet ministers resign amid protests, social media ban |work=France24 |url=https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20220403-sri-lanka-s-cabinet-ministers-resign-amid-protests-social-media-ban |access-date=4 April 2022}} The president was to announce the new cabinet the following day. On 18 April, Rajapaksa appointed 17 new cabinet members, selected among his party members. This move was seen as a sign of Rajapaksa's lack of willingness to listen and adhere to the protesters' demands.{{cite news |date=18 April 2022 |title=Gotabaya Rajapaksa: Under fire Sri Lanka president appoints new cabinet |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61138306 |url-status=live |access-date=18 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418061305/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61138306 |archive-date=18 April 2022}}

On 9 May, Rajapaksa tendered his resignation as prime minister to the president.{{cite news |date=9 May 2022 |title=Sri Lankan PM quits after violent clashes |work=Dawn |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1688804/sri-lankan-pm-quits-after-violent-clashes}} Rajapaksa was heavily criticised by netizens and the public for resigning after instigating violence against peaceful protests.{{cite web |title=MR's parting shot of violence at the Galle Face Prime Minister leaves office only after almost setting the country on fire |url=https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/MRs-parting-shot-of-violence-at-the-Galle-Face-Prime-Minister-leaves-office-only-after-almost-setting-the-country-on-fire/172-236649 |access-date=10 May 2022 |website=Daily Mirror}} Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the new prime minister on 12 May. Eventually, protests peaked on 9 July, after large numbers of protesters gathered at Chatham Street, near the President's House, Colombo, demanding his immediate resignation. Protesters also broke into the Presidential Secretariat and Temple Trees, the prime minister's official residence,{{cite news |last1=Mogul|first1=Rhea|last2=Smith-Spark|first2=Laura|last3=Vogt|first3=Adrienne|last4=Woodyatt|first4=Amy |date=9 July 2022 |title=Live updates: Turmoil in Sri Lanka as thousands protest |url=https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/sri-lanka-protests-07-09-22-intl/index.html |access-date=9 July 2022 |work=CNN}} and gathered around the private residence at 115 Fifth Lane of Wickremesinghe. The speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka issued a statement that night that Rajapaksa would resign from office on 13 July.{{cite news |date=2022-07-09 |title=Sri Lanka's president resigns in the face of massive protests |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/07/09/sri-lankas-president-resigns-in-the-face-of-massive-protests |url-access=subscription}}{{cite web |date=9 July 2022 |title=Sri Lanka president to resign on July 13: Speaker |url=https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-president-to-resign-on-july-13-speaker-97202 |access-date=9 July 2022 |website=EconomyNext}} Political parties including the country's opposition agreed to form an all-party interim government after the president's resignation.{{cite news |date=11 July 2022 |title=Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: Sri Lankan parties agree to form all-party interim govt after Rajapaksa's resignation |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sri-lanka-economic-crisis-protests-president-gotabaya-rajapaksa/liveblog/92759276.cms |access-date=11 July 2022}}{{cite news |date=11 July 2022 |title=Sri Lanka Opposition parties agree to form all-party interim govt |work=Business Standard |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/lankan-parties-to-form-all-party-interim-govt-after-rajapaksa-s-resignation-122071000430_1.html |access-date=11 July 2022}} Wickremesinghe also announced that he would be willing to resign as prime minister, saying that he would do so once a new government was formed.{{cite web |date=9 July 2022|title=PM says he is willing to resign |url=https://www.dailymirror.lk/latest_news/PM-says-he-is-willing-to-resign/342-240727 |access-date=9 July 2022 |work=Daily Mirror|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=9 July 2022 |title=Sri Lanka protesters set the prime minister's home on fire after he agrees to resign |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/07/09/1110663578/sri-lanka-protest-president-residence-economic-crisis |access-date=9 July 2022}}

On the morning of 13 July, Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka and appointed Wickremesinghe as acting president in his absence. Rajapaksa emailed a letter of resignation to the speaker of the parliament on 14 July the next day, thus marking the end of Rajapaksa's presidency.{{Cite news |date=14 July 2022 |title=Sri Lanka president Rajapaksa emails resignation letter to parliamentary speaker – source |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sri-lanka-president-rajapaksa-emails-resignation-letter-parliamentary-speaker-2022-07-14/ |access-date=14 July 2022}} The news of his resignation was celebrated by the public mainly at Galle Face and also in the other parts of Colombo.{{cite web |date=15 July 2022 |title=Sri Lankans hit the streets in celebration as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigns |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/sri-lankans-celebrate-president-gotabaya-rajapaksa-resigns-economic-crisis-ranil-wickremesinghe-1975801-2022-07-15 |access-date=18 July 2022 |work=India Today}} On 15 July, the parliamentary speaker Mahinda Yapa Abewardhana announced the official resignation of Rajapaksa.{{Cite news |date=15 July 2022 |title=Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned – source |publisher=Newswire |url=https://www.newswire.lk/2022/07/15/sri-lanka-president-gotabaya-rajapaksa-has-resigned/ |access-date=15 July 2022}} Wickremesinghe was officially sworn in as the acting president,{{cite news |date=15 July 2022 |title=Ranil takes oaths as Acting President |website=News First |url=https://www.newsfirst.lk/2022/07/15/ranil-takes-oaths-as-acting-president/ |access-date=15 July 2022}} and was later elected in the 2022 Sri Lankan presidential election by the Parliament of Sri Lanka to complete the remainder of Rajapaksa's term.{{cite news |date=15 July 2022 |title=Sri Lanka PM becomes acting president, election set for July 20 |publisher=France24 |url=https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20220715-sri-lanka-pm-becomes-acting-president-after-ousted-leader-resigns |access-date=16 July 2022}}

During the 2022 Sri Lankan presidential election, Dinesh Gunawardena temporarily succeeded Mahinda Rajapaksa as the de facto leader of the SLPP.{{Cite web |last=Pathirana |first=Saroj |title=Sri Lanka presidency a close contest after frontrunner pulls out |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/19/sri-lanka-presidency-a-close-contest-after-frontrunner-pulls-out |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}} Gunawardena would later become Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. On 15 December 2023, the National Convention of the SLPP was held, in which Mahinda Rajapaksa was reappointed as the party leader.{{Cite web |title=SLPP National Convention gets underway |url=https://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=95684 |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=www.adaderana.lk |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=SLPP re-elects Mahinda Rajapaksa as party leader |url=https://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=95685 |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=www.adaderana.lk |language=en}}

In 2024, there was much speculation whether the SLPP would field its own candidate or endorse incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe at the 2024 presidential election. In late July 2024, the SLPP announced that it would not endorse Wickremesinghe in the election.{{Cite news |date=2024-07-29 |title=Sri Lanka president fails to get backing of largest party for re-election |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sri-lanka-president-wickremesinghe-fails-get-backing-largest-party-re-election-2024-07-29/ |access-date=2024-10-03 |work=Reuters}} On 7 August 2024, the SLPP announced Namal Rajapaksa, son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, as its candidate in the 2024 presidential election. He was the youngest candidate in the election.{{Cite web |date=2024-08-07 |title=Heir apparent to Sri Lanka's powerful Rajapaksa family will run in September's presidential election |url=https://apnews.com/article/sri-lanka-politics-economic-crisis-0883f717c2ec297b41f03f92962916f4 |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=AP News |language=en}} Rajapaksa was eliminated after the first vote count, placing 4th behind Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sajith Premadasa and Ranil Wickremesinghe and winning only 2.57% of the popular vote.{{Cite web |title=Sri Lanka Presidential Election 2024 Live Update |url=https://election.newswire.lk/ |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=election.newswire.lk |language=English}}

From the election results so far it is apparent that the NPP is on the threshold of obtaining a two-thirds majority in Parliament , or fall slightly short. The SLPP managed to secure only 3 seats including one bonus seat (national list) in the Parliament through the results of the 2024 Election. The number of total votes obtained by the SLPP, once the largest party in Parliament from 2020 to 2024, was only 350,429 (3.14%) in this year’s parliamentary poll.{{Cite web |last=Radhakrishnan |first=R. K. |date=2024-11-15 |title=Sri Lanka Election Results 2024: JVP Wins Parliament Control, Marks Historic Political Shift |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/news/sri-lanka-election-2024-npp-victory-dissanayake-reforms-tamil-support-parliament-majority-economic-agenda/article68871257.ece |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Frontline |language=en}}

If the NPP gets a two-thirds majority, it is the first time under the Proportional Representation system that one party has got a two thirds majority in Parliament. In 2010 the United People's Freedom Alliance and in 2020 the SLPP fell just short of a two thirds and had to get the support of some opposition members to get a two thirds majority.{{Cite web |title=The NPP’s Rise and the Opposition’s Fall in Sri Lanka |url=https://thediplomat.com/2024/11/the-npps-rise-and-the-oppositions-fall-in-sri-lanka/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}

The SLPP split from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), a centre-left, Sinhalese nationalist, and post-colonial party, which political scientist Jayadeva Uyangoda described as "a progressive, social democratic, centre-left political party, that made tremendous contribution to social change and democracy". The SLPP borrowed the elements of nationalism from the SLFP but not its economic outlook. The party is opposed to federalism in Sri Lanka.{{cite news|last=Jeyaraj|first=D. B. S.|date=23 February 2019|url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/The-Politics-of-Demonizing-Federalism-and-Depicting-It-as-Separatism/172-162818/|title=The Politics of Demonizing Federalism and Depicting It as Separatism|work=Daily Mirror|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka|access-date=31 October 2019}}

In 2019, the SLPP began to outperform the SLFP, which did not field a candidate in the 2019 presidential election. The split and rightward turn of the SLPP,{{cite news|last=Jayatilleka|first=Dayan|date=12 November 2017|url=https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-slfps-crisis/|title=The SLFP's Crisis|work=Colombo Telegraph|location=Colombo, Sri Lanka|access-date=14 July 2022|quote=In the growing Oppositional space, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Rajapaksa family, and Prof G. L. Peiris would naturally have been a strong, organic center-left or liberal-nationalist moderate center, but they have been pulled to or pushed by the neo-nationalist populist Right, due to the ideological gravitational effect or osmosis of the Buddhist clergy and civil society as well as Diaspora pressure groups.}} which moved towards neo-nationalism and right-wing populism,{{cite web|last=Gunawardena|first=Devaka|date=19 November 2019|url=https://thewire.in/south-asia/sri-lanka-gotabaya-rajapaksa-election|title=Sri Lanka: Gotabaya's Triumph Is Constrained by Circumstances Beyond His Control|website=The Wire|access-date=11 July 2022}}{{cite web|last=Jayasuriya|first=Kanishka|date=27 November 2019|url=https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/11/27/the-sri-lankan-election-and-authoritarian-populism/|title=The Sri Lankan election and authoritarian populism|publisher=East Asia Forum|access-date=11 July 2022}} corresponded with the shifts of the nation's two other major parties: Anura Kumara Dissanayake's leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna moved closer to social democracy and democratic socialism, while Sajith Premadasa's free-market oriented United National Party (and later the Samagi Jana Balawegaya) became more supportive of welfare. Uyangoda described the SLPP as "a right wing, neo-conservative party that favours authoritarianism", and commented: "Though ironically created by the SLFP, the SLPP doesn't replace it, it merely displaces it. The SLPP will undoubtedly tread a free market-oriented path but have Mahinda Rajapaksa to disguise its policy in state-capitalist rhetoric."{{cite news|last=Srinivasan|first=Meera|date=9 October 2019|title=Is this the beginning of the political demise of Sri Lanka Freedom Party?|newspaper=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/analysis-is-this-the-beginning-of-the-political-demise-of-sri-lanka-freedom-party/article29629160.ece|access-date=5 June 2022|issn=0971-751X}} Ahead of the 2019 elections, Deshika Elapata, a junior researcher of the European Institute for Asian Studies, described the SLPP as "a socially right-wing and economically left-wing party rooted in Sinhalese nationalism and social democracy".{{cite web|last=Elapata|first=Deshika|date=4 November 2019|title=EU Election Observation Mission to Sri Lanka 2019|url=https://eias.org/publications/op-ed/eu-election-observation-mission-to-sri-lanka-2019/|access-date=5 June 2022|publisher=European Institute for Asian Studies}}

• 2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis
• 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis
• 2022 Sri Lankan protests
• Rajapaksa family

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.ft.lk/columns/The-SLFP-s-crisis/4-645000 The SLFP's crisis]

{{Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna}}

{{Sri Lankan political parties}}

Category:Political parties in Sri Lanka

Category:Political parties established in 2016

Category:Populist parties

Category:Conservative parties

Category:Opponents of the Aragalaya