Leader of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)

Leader of the Opposition of Sri Lanka ශ්‍රී ලංකා විපක්ෂ නායක இலங்கை எதிர்க்கட்சித் தலைவர்
Emblem of Sri Lanka
Flag of Sri Lanka
Incumbent Sajith Premadasa since 3 January 2020
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Parliament of Sri Lanka
Term length	While leader of the largest political party in Parliament that is not in government
Inaugural holder	N. M. Perera
Formation	14 October 1947

In Sri Lanka, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in Parliament that is not a part of the government. This is usually the leader of the second-largest party in Parliament.

Leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya Sajith Premadasa has been the incumbent Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament since 3 January 2020. He was officially sworn in on 20 August 2020, after the Speaker announced his appointment in parliament. ^{[1] [2]}

Privileges of office

Salary

In 2016, the Leader of the Opposition received a salary month and other entitlements of a Member of Parliament. ^[3]

Other privileges

The leader of the opposition is entitled to an official residence, office, transport and security equal that of a Cabinet Minister. ^{[4] [5]}

Order of precedence

In the Sri Lankan order of precedence, the leader of the opposition is ranked at the level of a Cabinet Minister in the order of precedence.

Leaders of the Opposition (1947–present)

Parties

   Lanka Sama Samaja Party    Sri Lanka Freedom Party    United National Party    Tamil United Liberation Front    Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi    Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna    Samagi Jana Balawegaya

No. (Terms)		Opposition Leader		Political party	Term of office			Government
		Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)		Took office	Left office	Days
1			N. M. Perera ඇන්. ඇම්. පෙරේරා (1905–1979)	Lanka Sama Samaja Party	14 October 1947	8 April 1952	1638	D. S. Senanayake	1st
								Dudley Senanayake I
	Office vacant				8 April 1952	9 June 1952	62		–
2			S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike එස්. ඩබ්. ආර්. ඩී. බණ්ඩාරනායක (1899–1959)	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	9 June 1952	18 February 1956	1349		2nd
								Kotelawala
	Office vacant				18 February 1956	19 April 1956	61		–
								S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike	3rd
(1)			N. M. Perera ඇන්. ඇම්. පෙරේරා (1905–1979)	Lanka Sama Samaja Party	19 April 1956	5 December 1959	1325
								Dahanayake
	Office vacant				5 December 1959	30 March 1960	116		–
								Dudley Senanayake II	–
3			C. P. de Silva සී. පී. ද සිල්වා (1912–1972)	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	30 March 1960	23 April 1960	24		4th
	Office vacant				23 April 1960	5 August 1960	104		–
								Sirimavo Bandaranayake I	–
4			Dudley Senanayake ඩඩ්ලි සේනානායක (1911–1973)	United National Party	5 August 1960	17 December 1964	1595		5th
	Office vacant				17 December 1964	5 April 1965	109		–
								Dudley Senanayake III	–
5			Sirimavo Bandaranaike සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක (1916–2000)	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	5 April 1965	25 March 1970	1815		6th
	Office vacant				25 March 1970	7 June 1970	74		–
								Sirimavo Bandaranayake II	–
6			J. R. Jayewardene ජේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධන (1906–1996)	United National Party	7 June 1970	18 May 1977	2537		7th
	Office vacant				18 May 1977	4 August 1977	78		–
								Jayewardene	–
7			A. Amirthalingam அப்பாப்பிள்ளை அமிர்தலிங்கம் (1927–1989)	Tamil United Liberation Front	4 August 1977	24 October 1983	2272		8th
	Office vacant				24 October 1983	8 November 1983	15
8			Anura Bandaranaike අනුර බණ්ඩාරනායක (1949–2008)	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	8 November 1983	20 December 1988	1869
	Office vacant				20 December 1988	9 March 1989	79		–
								Premadasa	–
(5)			Sirimavo Bandaranaike සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක (1916–2000)	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	9 March 1989	24 June 1994	1902		9th
								Wijetunga
	Office vacant				24 June 1994	25 August 1994	62		–
9			Gamini Dissanayake ගාමිණි දිසානායක (1942–1994)	United National Party	25 August 1994	24 October 1994	60		10th
	Office vacant				24 October 1994	28 October 1994	4
								Kumaratunga
10			Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ (born 1949)	United National Party	28 October 1994	10 October 2001	2549		10th 11th
	Office vacant				10 October 2001	18 December 2001	69		–
11			Ratnasiri Wickremanayake රත්නසිරි වික්‍රමනායක (1933–2016)	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	18 December 2001	31 January 2002	378		12th
	Office vacant				31 January 2002	6 February 2002	6
12			Mahinda Rajapaksa මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ (born 1945)	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	6 February 2002	7 February 2004	730
	Office vacant				7 February 2004	22 April 2004	75		–
(10)			Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ (born 1949)	United National Party	22 April 2004	9 January 2015	3914		13th
								Mahinda Rajapaksa	14th
	Office vacant				9 January 2015	16 January 2015	7	Sirisena I
13			Nimal Siripala de Silva නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා (born 1944)	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	16 January 2015	26 June 2015	130
	Office vacant				26 June 2015	3 September 2015	69		–
14			R. Sampanthan இரா. சம்பந்தன் (1933–2024)	Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi	3 September 2015	18 December 2018	1202	Sirisena II	15th
(12)			Mahinda Rajapaksa මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ (born 1945)	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	18 December 2018	21 November 2019	338	Sirisena IV
	Office vacant				21 November 2019	3 January 2020	43	Gotabaya Rajapaksa
15			Sajith Premadasa සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස (born 1967)	Samagi Jana Balawegaya	3 January 2020	Incumbent	1865
									16th
								Wickremesinghe
								Dissnayake	17th

See also

• President of Sri Lanka
• Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
• List of prime ministers of Sri Lanka

References

1. Srinivasan, Meera (5 December 2019). "Sajith Premadasa named Opposition leader in Sri Lanka". The Hindu.
2. "Sri Lanka : Speaker to officially announce appointment of Opposition Leader when parliament convenes in January". www.colombopage.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-06.
3. Of Ministers’ Salaries And Parliamentary Perks
4. No official residence for Opposition Leader
5. Sampanthan finally gets official residence!

External links

• Parliament of Sri Lanka - Handbook of Parliament, Leaders of the Opposition