Sri Lanka Freedom Party

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The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( SLFP , Sinhalese ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය śrī laṁkā nidahas pakṣaya ) is one of the most important parties in Sri Lanka .

It was founded in 1951 by SWRD Bandaranaike , who left the United National Party (UNP) with his supporters . As a result, the SLFP advanced to become the most important Sinhala opposition party. She represented a socialist and Sinhala nationalist course. It envisaged the nationalization of companies, the separation from the Commonwealth of Nations and the sole introduction of Sinhala as the official language. The SLFP has been dominated by the Bandaranaike-Kumaratunga family since its inception.

Bandaranaike Governments (1956–1960, 1960–1965, 1970–1977)

In the 1956 elections, the SLFP, as the leading force of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP), was able to take over the government for the first time. Bandaranaike became Prime Minister, but lost his life in an assassination attempt in 1959. His successor Dudley Senanayake could not hold the coalition together and lost the parliamentary elections in March 1960. Since the UNP was also unable to form a stable government, the SLFP came back to power after a short time. The widow of SWRD Bandaranaike, Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike , took over the leadership, won an absolute majority in the new elections in July 1960 and became the world's first woman Prime Minister.

In 1965, however, the SLFP lost the elections and had to join the opposition. For the 1970 elections, she entered into an alliance with the Communist Party and the Trotskyists, who had been part of the Bandaranaike government since 1964, under the name of " United Front " ( Samagi Peramuna ). This alliance won 118 out of 135 seats in the elections, with the SLFP alone winning 90 seats.

The government passed a new constitution in 1972 that made Sri Lanka a republic . However, this also aroused resistance, especially from the Tamil minority.

Opposition (1977-1994)

After the coalition fell apart, the SLFP fell to just eight seats in the 1977 elections. Some members split off and formed the People's Democratic Party ( Mahajana Prajathanthra ). The SLFP was led by the son of the former Prime Minister, Anuba Bandaranaike .

In 1984 Sirimavo Bandaranaike's daughter, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga , founded another split with her husband Vijaya Kumaratunga , the Sri Lanka People's Party ( SLPP, Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya ), which resulted in more concessions to the Tamil rebels who had been waging a civil war since 1983 , was ready. However, the splits could not oust the SLFP as the main opposition party.

Determining political force (since 1994)

It was not until 1994 that the SLFP, the most important force in the People's Alliance, was able to take over government again. Kumaratunga became Prime Minister. When she was elected president in November, she made her 78-year-old mother prime minister again. Kumaratunga also won the 1999 presidential elections, but in December 2001 the SLFP lost the parliamentary elections.

Tensions between the President and Prime Minister of the UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe , led to his dismissal and new elections on April 2, 2004. This won the SLFP as the leading party of the United People's Freedom Alliance , which won 105 of 225 seats. Mahinda Rajapaksa became prime minister. He also won the presidential election on November 17, 2004, to which Kamaratunga was no longer allowed to run, with 50.3% against Wickremesinghe. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake , who held the office briefly from 2000 to 2001, was the new Prime Minister from the SLFP .