The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP, is a centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party, or as part of its governing coalition, for 38 of the country's 74 years of independence, including the periods 1947–1956, 1965–1970, 1977–1994, 2001–2004 and 2015–2019. The party also controlled the executive presidency from its formation in 1978 until 1994.
The United National Front (UNF) later the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) was a political alliance in Sri Lanka led by the United National Party.
Ruban Canistus Jayalath Jayawardena MP, commonly as Jayalath Jayawardena, was a medical doctor who was elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka for the opposition United National Party (UNP) in 1994. Jayawardena was known as a human rights activist. Jayawardena is also popular for his sheer commitment and loyalty for the UNP.
Sajith Premadasa is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the current Leader of the Opposition of Sri Lanka and Member of Parliament for Colombo District. He is the current leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.
Mohamed Hashim Mohamed Kabir popularly known as Kabir Hashim is a Sri Lankan politician and economist. He is a former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka representing the Kegalle District and former Minister of Highways, Higher Education and Investment Promotion. Kabir was formerly the General Secretary of the United National Party.
Wajira Abeywardana is a Sri Lankan United National Party politician and a member of parliament for Galle District. He is currently the leader of the United National Party of Sri Lanka. Wajira Abeywardana is one of the most senior leaders with 38 years of political experience in the party. He is also the leader who has dedicated almost the entirety of his career for the party.
Attanayake Mudiyanselage Kudabanda Tissa Attanayake is a Sri Lankan politician, who is a National List member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was first elected to parliament in 1989. Former general secretary of United National Party, Attanayake was appointed a Minister under the UNP government in 2001 and later by Rajapaksa in 2014. He only served 20 days under Rajapaksa. He resides in Colombo.
Petikirige Dayaratna is a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was elected to Ampara electorate in 1977 as a Member of Parliament from the United National Party.
Abdul Majeed Mohammed Naushad also known as Mohamed Naushad Majeed is a Sri Lankan politician and a former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
Kandy (Mahanuwara) electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Kandy in the Central province. The district currently elects 12 of the 225 members of the Sri Lankan Parliament and had 970,456 registered electors in 2010.
The 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 2010 parliamentary election held on 8 and 20 April 2010. The parliament met for the first time on 22 April 2010 and was dissolved on 26 June 2015.
Attanayake Mudiyanselage Kithsiri Senarath Bandara Attanayake known as Senarath Attanayake was a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer.
Sir Ukwatte Acharige Jayasundera was a prominent Ceylonese criminal lawyer and politician.
The Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972 was a constitution of Sri Lanka, replaced by the 1978 constitution currently in force. It was Sri Lanka's first republican constitution, and its second since independence in 1948. The constitution changed the country's name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka, and established it as an independent republic. The country was officially designated "Republic of Sri Lanka," leading to this constitution being known as "the 1972 Republican Constitution." The constitution was promulgated on 22 May 1972.
Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 January 2015, two years ahead of schedule. The incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the United People's Freedom Alliance's candidate, seeking a third term in office. The United National Party (UNP)-led opposition coalition chose to field Maithripala Sirisena, the former Minister of Health in Rajapaksa's government and general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – the main constituent party of the UPFA – as its common candidate.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 17 August 2015, ten months ahead of schedule, to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 15th Parliament.
Polthutuwe Arachchige Jinadasa Niyathapala was a Sri Lankan politician and a former member and Senator of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and former General Secretary of the United National Party. A section of the Nawala Road was renamed as the Jinadasa Niyathapala Mawatha in recognition of services rendered by Niyathapala to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.
The 19th Amendment (19A) to the Constitution of Sri Lanka was passed by the 225-member Sri Lankan Parliament with 215 voting in favor, one against, one abstained and seven were absent, on 28 April 2015. The amendment envisages the dilution of many powers of Executive Presidency, which had been in force since 1978. It is the most revolutionary reform ever applied to the Constitution of Sri Lanka since JR Jayawardhane became the first Executive President of Sri Lanka in 1978.
Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 16 November 2019. The incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena's term of office would have ended on 9 January 2020. This was the first presidential election in Sri Lanka where no sitting president, prime minister or opposition leader ran for president. Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election in a landslide victory, defeating his main opponent Sajith Premadasa.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya is a political alliance that is led by the opposition leader of Sri Lanka, Sajith Premadasa. The alliance was formed with the approval from the working committee of the United National Party (UNP) to contest the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election. On 11 February 2020, the election commission of Sri Lanka announced that they have accepted the party as a recognised political party in Sri Lanka. Ranjith Mandumabandara was named as the General Secretary of the party. Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) joined the new alliance on 12 February 2020.
