Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. The country's first and only female president to date and the country's second female prime minister. She is the daughter of two former prime ministers and was the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) until the end of 2005.
Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike (මැතිනිය), was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the world's first female prime minister when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She chaired the Sri Lanka Freedom Party from 1960 to 1994 and served three terms as prime minister, two times as the chief executive, 1960 to 1965 and 1970 to 1977, and once again in a presidential system from 1994 to 2000, governing under the presidency of her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 2 April 2004. The ruling United National Party of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was defeated, winning only eighty two seats in the 225-member Sri Lankan parliament. The opposition United People's Freedom Alliance won 105 seats. While this was eight seats short of an absolute majority, the Alliance was able to form a government.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 December 2001, just a little over a year after the last elections in October 2000.
All Ceylon Tamil Congress, is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.
Kovilage Anton Vijaya Kumaranatunga, popularly known as Vijaya Kumaratunga, was a Sri Lankan film actor, playback singer and a politician. Regarded as one of the most popular icons in Sri Lankan cinema of all time. He was married to former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaranatunga from 1978 until his assassination in 1988. He was the Founder of Sri Lanka Mahajana Party.
Anura Priyadarshi Solomon Dias Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan politician, served as Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (2000-2001) and Leader of the Opposition (1983–1988). He held several cabinet ministries as Foreign Minister briefly in 2005, Minister of Higher Education (1993–1994), Minister of Tourism, Minister of National Heritage (2007) and he last served as a member of parliament from the opposition.
The United People's Freedom Alliance was a political alliance in Sri Lanka founded by former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2004 and dissolved by former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in 2019.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is one of the major and most well known political parties in Sri Lanka. It was founded by S.W.R.D Bandaranaike in 1951 and, since then, has been one of the two largest parties in the Sri Lankan political arena. It first came to power in 1956 and since then has been the predominant party in government on a number of occasions. The party is generally considered as having a democratic socialist or progressive economic agenda and is often associated with nationalist Sinhalese parties. The party follows a Non-Aligned foreign policy but always had close ties to socialist nations. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is a Second Main constituent party in the Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance.
The United National Front (UNF) later the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka formed by the United National Party, the alliance once represented 7 parties including the largest Muslim party Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Sinhala Nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya. The UNF is former governing party in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. A new UNP led alliance, the National Democratic Front (NDF) is in the process of being formed for future elections.
The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was a Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2010 and has served as Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2002. He was a Member of Parliament representing Horana electorate and later Kalutara District.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 16 August 1994. They marked the decisive end of seventeen years of United National Party rule and a revival of Sri Lankan democracy.
Nambukara Helambage Rajitha Harischandra Senaratne is a Sri Lankan dentist, politician, member of parliament and former cabinet minister. He is currently a member of parliament representing Kalutara district
Gamini Lakshman Peiris is a Sri Lankan politician and academic. He was the Cabinet Minister of External Affairs and is a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka from the National List. He was also the State Minister of Defense on the 18th of April 2022, serving until 11 July 2022. He previously served as the Minister of Education, Minister of Justice in previous Sri Lankan Governments. He belongs to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, serving as its chairperson.
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi is a Sri Lankan political party which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was originally founded in 1949 as a breakaway faction of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC). In 1972, ITAK merged with the ACTC and Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) to form the Tamil United Front, which later changed its name to the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). ITAK remained dormant until 2004 when a split in the TULF resulted in ITAK being re-established as an active political party. ITAK is a constituent party of the Tamil National Alliance.
The 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 2001 parliamentary election held on 5 December 2001. The parliament met for the first time on 19 December 2001 and was dissolved prematurely on 7 February 2004.
General Anuruddha Leuke Ratwatte, frequently referred to as Anuruddha Ratwatte, was a Sri Lankan soldier and politician. He was a Cabinet Minister and Deputy Minister of Defence.
Seyed Ahmed Seyed Alavi Moulana was a Sri Lankan politician, who entered politics in 1948 as a trade unionist. He was the 5th Governor of Western Province, having assumed office on 1 February 2002. He was a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Cabinet Minister of Labour, and a councillor in the Colombo Municipal Council. He was the Senior Vice-President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was also a social and religious worker. He also served as acting Governor for Sabaragamuwa in 2009.
Socialism in Sri Lanka or Sri Lankan socialism is a political philosophy that is shared by various political parties of the country. Socialist parties, especially the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party, have played a major role in the country's history from the time of the Sri Lankan Independence movement. Socialist ideology shaped the principal economic and social policies of Sirimavo Bandaranaike and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party during the 1970s. Several sectors of the economy including banking, insurance and some privately owned estates were nationalized during her tenure. Bread and several essential items were rationed by the government at the time.
