65-518: The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( SLFP ; Sinhala : ශ්රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය , romanized: Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya ; Tamil : இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி , romanized: Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Kaṭci ) is one of the main political parties of Sri Lanka . It was founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951 and has been one of the two largest parties in the Sri Lankan political arena since. It first came to power in 1956 and has served as
130-466: A Muslim majority country was Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan , who led her party to victory in the 1988 general election and later in 1993 , making her the first woman democratically elected leader of any Muslim nation . Bhutto was also the first of only two non-hereditary female world leaders who gave birth to a child while serving in office, the other being Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand . The longest-tenured female non-hereditary head of government
195-662: A Dravidian origin for this word. ), dola for pig in Vedda and offering in Sinhala. Other common words are rera for wild duck, and gala for stones (in toponyms used throughout the island, although others have also suggested a Dravidian origin). There are also high frequency words denoting body parts in Sinhala, such as olluva for head, kakula for leg, bella for neck and kalava for thighs, that are derived from pre-Sinhalese languages of Sri Lanka. The oldest Sinhala grammar, Sidatsan̆garavā , written in
260-607: A breakaway party, the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya , in response to her brother's shift. In 1989 , Sirimavo Bandaranaike was reelected to the parliament and took the lead again; she became leader of the opposition. In the early 1990s, the existing UNP government had weakened through internal conflicts of its own as well as the descent into two civil wars and fading public support. New SLFP leaders, most prominently Mahinda Rajapaksa , had launched successful pada yatra, jana gosha and white flag campaigns against
325-479: A country. She became the chairwoman of the country's presidium in 1940. The first woman to be elected as prime minister of a country was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka ), when she led her party to victory in the July 1960 general election . The first woman to serve as president of a country was Isabel Perón of Argentina , who served as the country's vice president and succeeded to
390-779: A period of prior bilingualism: "The earliest type of contact in Sri Lanka, not considering the aboriginal Vedda languages, was that which occurred between South Dravidian and Sinhala. It seems plausible to assume prolonged contact between these two populations as well as a high degree of bilingualism. This explains why Sinhala looks deeply South Dravidian for an Indo-Aryan language. There is corroboration in genetic findings." In addition to many Tamil loanwords , several phonetic and grammatical features also present in neighbouring Dravidian languages set modern spoken Sinhala apart from its Northern Indo-Aryan relatives. These features are evidence of close interactions with Dravidian speakers. Some of
455-468: A reducing debt-to-GDP ratio . However, the IMF has said Sri Lanka's national accounts "suffer from insufficient data sources and undeveloped statistical techniques" and opposition legislators have accused Rajapaksa of giving overstated growth estimates. One of the top officials in the statistics office was sacked for disobedience and leaking internal information after he said that economic growth data compiled by
520-589: A shift in Sri Lanka's foreign policy from the West to the Non-Aligned Movement and lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years of age. Working people, a core base of support for the party, also benefited through the setting up of an Employee's Provident Fund and the empowerment of peasants through the Paddy Lands Act. The healthcare and education systems were also improved for the benefit of
585-521: A social democratic program termed 'Mahinda Chinthana'. Some of the companies privatized by the Kumaratunga administration were re-nationalized such as Shell Gas Lanka. The major legacy of this period of UPFA government was bringing an end to the long-running civil war and the reunification of Sri Lanka. This achievement greatly boosted the popularity of the SLFP, leading to convincing victories in both
650-442: A strong outcome for the party. The SLFP suffered another blow the same year, when a referendum to delay parliamentary elections by 6 years was passed. During this period, the party suffered from internal conflicts, with Sirimavo's son Anura Bandaranaike , who led the party in parliament after her expulsion, shifting the traditionally socialist party to the right , while her daughter and future party leader Chandrika Kumaratunga led
715-699: A vacated office on a temporary basis. Below are women who have been appointed representatives of heads of state, such as female governors-general and French representatives of Andorra . As governors-general are appointed representatives of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms (currently Charles III ) and the French Representatives of Andorra are appointed representatives of the French Co-Prince of Andorra (currently Emmanuel Macron ), they act as heads of state and carry out on
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#1732773198494780-506: Is Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh . She served as the country's prime minister from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 until August 2024, for a combined total of over 20 years. The prime ministers of Equatorial Guinea , Namibia , Peru , and Uganda are included in the list of elected or appointed female deputy heads of government but not in the list of elected or appointed female deputy heads of state , as they are neither heads of government, nor deputy heads of state due to
845-411: Is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state or government of their respective countries since the interwar period (1918–1939). The first list includes female presidents who are heads of state and may also be heads of government , as well as female heads of government who are not concurrently head of state, such as prime ministers . The list does not include any presidents of
910-463: Is a conspicuous example of the linguistic phenomenon known as diglossia . Sinhala ( Siṁhala ) is a Sanskrit term; the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan ( Eḷu ) word is Sīhala . The name is a derivative of siṁha , the Sanskrit word for 'lion'. The name is sometimes glossed as 'abode of lions', and attributed to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island. According to
975-599: Is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka , who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also spoken as the first language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 2 million speakers as of 2001. It is written using the Sinhala script , which is a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. Sinhala
1040-484: Is divided into four epochs: The most important phonetic developments of Sinhala include: According to Wilhelm Geiger , an example of a possible Western feature in Sinhala is the retention of initial /v/ which developed into /b/ in the Eastern languages (e.g. Sanskrit viṁśati "twenty", Sinhala visi- , Hindi bīs ). This is disputed by Muhammad Shahidullah who says that Sinhala Prakrit branched off from
1105-412: Is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, alongside Tamil . Along with Pali , it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. Early forms of the Sinhala language are attested as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions, still retaining long vowels and aspirated consonants, is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi , a regional associate of
1170-435: Is the combined head of state and government. This list includes women who were appointed by a governing committee or parliament where heads of state or government are not directly elected by citizens. The list does not include women chosen by a hereditary monarch. Interim heads of state or government are listed in italics . Notes: This list includes women elected or appointed in an acting capacity, wherein they assumed
1235-540: The 1956 election on a platform of giving true meaning to the independence achieved in 1948. This involved a nationalist, democratic and socialist program which saw the SLFP achieve a huge victory at the 1956 elections and is seen by many observers as a social revolution resulting in the eclipse of the Westernized elite. The achievements of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's term of office include the reverting of major defence facilities from British to local control, initiating
1300-505: The 2019 presidential elections , though president Sirisena was eligible to run for a second term, the SLFP chose to endorse SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa , who won the election. The SLPP, SLFP and several other smaller parties formed a new political alliance, the Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance , to contest in the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections . The new alliance claimed a landslide victory, winning 145 seats in
1365-576: The Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact was signed to grant official status to the Tamil language as well. However, the agreement was vehemently opposed by hardline Sinhalese nationalists led by the UNP and instead a watered down act was passed. In September 1959, Bandaranaike was assassinated by Talduwe Somarama , an extremist Buddhist monk opposed to Bandaranaike's supposed attempts to appease
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#17327731984941430-553: The LTTE , whilst simultaneously attempting to weaken them militarily through force . The SLFP government however initially placed greater emphasis on achieving peace with the Kumaratunga government engaging in numerous peace talks. However, LTTE intransigence limited the policy's effectiveness. The People's Alliance can be credited however with significant victories on the foreign policy front, with Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar spearheading successful efforts to further isolate
1495-729: The Middle Indian Prakrits that had been used during the time of the Buddha . The most closely related languages are the Vedda language (an endangered, indigenous creole still spoken by a minority of Sri Lankans, mixing Sinhala with an isolate of unknown origin and from which Old Sinhala borrowed various aspects into its main Indo-Aryan substrate), and the Maldivian language . It has two main varieties, written and spoken, and
1560-551: The Non-Aligned Movement in 1976 and receiving plaudits as the SLFP-led government attempted to mediate between India and China during the Sino-Indian war . In government, the SLFP had to also overcome a number of challenges to democracy such as the 1962 coup attempt , launched by Christian officers upset by the increasing number of Buddhist officer corp which had previously been three-fifths Christian. Likewise, in 1971
1625-635: The Samagi Jana Balawegaya led by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa a year later. On 4 April 2024, the Colombo District Court issued an interim injunction temporarily preventing Maithripala Sirisena from functioning as the party chairman until 18 April, following a case filed by former SLFP chairman Chandrika Kumaratunga . A few days later, entrance to the SLFP headquarters in Colombo was suspended to all individuals by
1690-587: The UNESCO National Commission of Ceylon According to Wilhelm Geiger , Sinhala has features that set it apart from other Indo-Aryan languages. Some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language . Sinhala has many words that are only found in Sinhala, or shared between Sinhala and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Possible examples include kola for leaf in Sinhala and Vedda (although others suggest
1755-486: The presidential and parliamentary polls held in 2010. In the post-war period, the Rajapaksa administration instituted a large-scale infrastructure and development drive including the construction and renewal of many of Sri Lanka's key roads, mainly using loans from China. In 2011, the construction of Sri Lanka's first expressway was completed. Likewise, new coal and renewable energy power plants were built, improving
1820-510: The upcoming presidential elections as the SLFP candidate. On 12 May 2024, Sirisena announced his resignation as chairman of the SLFP, and the pro-Sirisena faction unanimously voted to appoint Wijeyadasa Rajapakse as the new chairman. However, the anti-Sirisena faction of the SLFP still disapproved of the appointment. As of August 2024, the party is split into three factions, with the Sirisena faction supporting Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, running as
1885-464: The 13th century CE, recognised a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhala. The grammar lists naram̆ba (to see) and koḷom̆ba (fort or harbour) as belonging to an indigenous source. Koḷom̆ba is the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo . The consistent left branching syntax and the loss of aspirated stops in Sinhala is attributed to a probable South Dravidian substratum effect. This has been explained by
1950-716: The Eastern Prakrits prior to this change. He cites the edicts of Ashoka , no copy of which shows this sound change. An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular (instead of Western -o ) in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary doublets , one example being the words mæssā ("fly") and mækkā ("flea"), which both correspond to Sanskrit makṣikā but stem from two regionally different Prakrit words macchiā (Western Prakrits) and makkhikā (as in Eastern Prakrits like Pali ). In 1815,
2015-684: The General Secretaries of the SLFP and the UPFA . In the 2015 parliamentary election , the SLFP-led UPFA won only 95 seats while its opposition, the UNP-led UNFGG won 106 seats. The United National Party , who won the elections, invited the SLFP to jointly create a national unity government and an agreement was signed between the UNP and SLFP. 45 MPs joined the government and 50 MPs including Mahinda Rajapaksa remained in
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2080-547: The LTTE internationally. Another achievement of the Kumaratunga administration was the establishment of several new public universities. Despite successes on these fronts, the Kumaratunga government also oversaw territorial losses to the LTTE as well as a flagging economy. As a result of this, a UNP government was elected at the 2001 parliamentary elections . In November 2003, Kumaratunga used her presidential powers to take powers away from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe 's UNP in
2145-584: The Rajapaksa family holding prominent positions in the government. On 5 April 2022, amidst increasing discontent with the Rajapaksa government, the SLPP began losing many of its key allies in the SLPFA, including the SLFP. Maithripala Sirisena pledged that the SLFP would become a neutral party and would contest in future elections separately from the SLPP. On 11 January 2023, the Freedom People's Alliance
2210-482: The SLFP had been uneasy with Chandrika Kumaratunga's liberal economic policies, privatization of many public institutions as well as several allegations of corruption against her. Rajapaksa was ultimately selected as the presidential candidate of the SLFP-led United People's Freedom Alliance and was subsequently elected as President. Under Mahinda Rajapaksa, the SLFP shifted back to the left towards
2275-572: The SLFP saw a successful return to power and Chandrika Kumaratunga was elected the nation's first female president as part of the SLFP-led People's Alliance coalition. Kumaratunga's tenure marked the beginning of the SLFP's shift from the party's initial socialist policies towards a more centrist philosophy that sought to combine both the free market and the SLFP's traditional people-friendly policies. The People's Alliance government continued with their predecessor's attempts to negotiate with
2340-480: The SLFP-led government was almost toppled by a violent Marxist insurrection led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna , which was eventually put down after it claimed more than a thousand lives. Towards the end of Sirimavo Bandaranaike's second term as prime minister, her government had become increasingly unpopular amidst the background of a declining economy and charges of corruption and the SLFP
2405-540: The Tamils. He was replaced as prime minister for an interim period by Wijeyananda Dahanayake . Afterwards, the party turned to Bandaranaike's widow Sirimavo Bandaranaike , who consequently became the world's first elected female head of government in 1960 . Sirimavo Bandaranaike was determined to carry on the program of her late husband and her government pursued several socialist policies during its terms of office from 1960 to 1964 and 1970 to 1977. Sirimavo also initiated
2470-433: The UNP government during this period. By this time, Anura Bandaranaike had defected to the UNP to receive ministerial appointments, so Kumaratunga, who had returned to the party, was now the undisputed party leader and successor to her mother. Sirimavo Bandaranaike had lost her influence with the electorate and stepped aside as party leader in favor of her daughter. During the 1994 parliamentary and presidential elections,
2535-467: The United States, nor Queens regnant who are heads of state (but not of government). Khertek Anchimaa-Toka , of the mostly unrecognized and now defunct Tuvan People's Republic , is regarded as the "first ever elected woman head of state in the world", although not in multiparty, free and fair elections. The wife of the nation's Supreme Leader, she is the first woman to be elected Chairman of
2600-446: The aftermath of Sri Lankan independence supported its rapid rise towards attaining major party status alongside the centre-right United National Party. SLFP founder S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike stated that the basis of the party would be the 'Pancha Maha Balavegaya' (Five Great Forces) which consisted of the native doctors, clergy, teachers, farmers and workers. After winning 9 seats in the 1952 parliamentary election , Bandaranaike contested
2665-681: The chronicle Mahāvaṃsa , written in Pali, Prince Vijaya of the Vanga Kingdom and his entourage merged in Sri Lanka with later settlers from the Pandya kingdom . In the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India, including additional migration from the Vanga Kingdom (Bengal), as well as Kalinga and Magadha . This influx led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits. The development of Sinhala
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2730-452: The common man with the establishment of ayurvedic research centres, recognition of native physicians as well as the allowing of students to learn in their mother tongue (rather than only English). The S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike government also had a lasting contribution in language policy. In 1956 Sinhala replaced English as the sole official language of Sri Lanka, fulfilling a major election pledge. In reaction to Tamil unease to this change,
2795-482: The existence of the office of vice president in these countries, whereas the prime ministers of South Korea and Sri Lanka (post-1978) are included in both of those lists. Currently, Barbados is the only republic in the world where both the serving head of state and head of government are women. Honduras , the Marshall Islands , Mexico , Peru , and Tanzania are republics where the female President
2860-509: The features that may be traced to Dravidian influence are: ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නවා dannavā know ඒක අලුත් කියලා මම දන්නවා ēka aḷut kiyalā mama dannavā it new having-said I know "I know that it is new." ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new ද da Q කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නේ List of elected or appointed female heads of government The following
2925-638: The form of important ministries, and the new SLFP-led alliance, the United People's Freedom Alliance , returned to power at the 2004 parliamentary election with future party leader Mahinda Rajapaksa being appointed as the prime minister. A rift opened up in the party in 2005 over the choice of its candidate at the 2005 presidential election between the President Kumaratunga-backed Anura Bandaranaike and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Many members of
2990-607: The island of Ceylon came under British rule . During the career of Christopher Reynolds as a Sinhalese lecturer at the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London , he extensively researched the Sinhalese language and its pre-1815 literature. The Sri Lankan government awarded him the Sri Lanka Ranjana medal for his work. He wrote the 377-page An anthology of Sinhalese literature up to 1815 , selected by
3055-577: The nation's power generation capacity. Tourism received a boost specially in Colombo which ranked as the world's fastest growing tourist city in 2015. However, many of these projects launched by Rajapaska (most named after himself) have been called white elephants , being built ignoring feasibility studies: for example, the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport built by Rajapaksa only services one budget carrier and
3120-482: The office was inflated. Eventually, allegations of corruption and nepotism saw Mahinda Rajapaksa lose the presidency to SLFP defector Maithripala Sirisena in 2015 , who ran against him with the support of the UNP and other smaller parties. The UNP consequently regained power despite the UPFA still holding a majority of seats in the legislature. Soon after Sirisena's victory, Mahinda Rajapaksa handed over leadership of
3185-437: The opposition, which resulted in a split within the SLFP. By 2018, the influence of the SLFP in Sri Lankan politics began to decline, suffering a heavy loss in the 2018 local government elections and finishing in third place, while the newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa placed first, winning 40% of the votes and securing the most number of seats and local authorities. In
3250-490: The parliament. Between 2021 and 2022, however, the Rajapaksa government was beginning to lose much of its popularity. The ongoing economic crisis was only getting worse due to poor mismanagement by the government. By 2021, the foreign debt of Sri Lanka had risen to 101% of the nation's GDP. The government was also becoming highly nepotistic , with Rajapaksa family brothers Basil Rajapaksa as finance minister and Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister, and several more members of
3315-557: The party and crossed over to the opposition with several of his other close associates. His party, the Sinhala Maha Sabha , was dissolved and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party was inaugurated. After Sri Lanka gained its independence, the SLFP represented a form of non-revolutionary socialism and a policy of non-alignment with strong ties to socialist countries. Its social democratic and nationalist policies in
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#17327731984943380-488: The party to Sirisena, as per the SLFP constitution which states any SLFP member who is president is automatically leader of the party. Soon afterwards, the SLFP split into two main factions: those who were supportive of president Sirisena and were willing to work with the minority UNP government, and the faction loyal to the Rajapaksas, which acted as the main de facto opposition to the new regime. Nimal Siripala de Silva
3445-431: The police. On 8 April, Nimal Siripala de Silva was appointed as the acting chairman of the SLFP. On 21 April 2024, the pro-Sirisena faction of the party appointed cabinet minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe acting chairman of the SLFP. Now with two acting chairmen, the internal rift within the SLFP worsened further. Rajapakshe revealed that he received several requests from members of the party's central committee to contest in
3510-414: The post, claiming that Yapa was going against the party policy and disobeying the commands of chairman. As a result, Sirsena appointed his loyalist Duminda Dissanayake as acting General Secretary 48 hours ahead of parliamentary election, and also obtained court order to prevent Anura Priyadarshana Yapa from functioning as General Secretary thereafter until 24 August 2015. Eventually, Sirisena sacked both
3575-446: The powers of the president without transferring executive powers to the prime minister. However, rigorous attempts by President Sirisena and the SLFP to modify the current and largely unpopular electoral system were unsuccessful due to stiff opposition from the UNP and other smaller parties. On 14 August 2015, Sirisena issued a letter stating that pro-Rajapaksa loyalist and General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa had been removed from
3640-473: The predominant ruling party on a number of occasions. The party is generally considered as having a democratic socialist or progressive economic agenda and is often associated with Sinhalese nationalist parties. The party follows a non-aligned foreign policy but has historically had close ties to socialist nations. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party was founded in 1951, when long-standing United National Party stalwart S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike defected from
3705-473: The presidency in July 1974 upon the death of her husband. The first woman elected president of a country was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland , who won the 1980 presidential election as well as three subsequent elections, remaining in office for a total of 16 years, which makes her the longest-serving non-hereditary female head of state in history. The first democratically elected female prime minister of
3770-811: The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Front in the upcoming presidential election, the Siripala faction supporting incumbent president Ranil Wickremasinghe , and the Dayasiri faction supporting opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya . Sinhala language Sinhala ( / ˈ s ɪ n h ə l ə , ˈ s ɪ ŋ ə l ə / SIN -hə-lə, SING -ə-lə ; Sinhala: සිංහල , siṁhala , [ˈsiŋɦələ] ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( / ˌ s ɪ n ( h ) ə ˈ l iː z , ˌ s ɪ ŋ ( ɡ ) ə ˈ l iː z / SIN -(h)ə- LEEZ , SING -(g)ə- LEEZ ),
3835-489: The prevailing geopolitical environment, which led some Western nations to criticize the UPFA government regarding accusations of human rights abuses during the civil war . During this time the government has been implicated of political kidnappings and claimed the Rajapaksa family was becoming a dynasty which ran the country. The 2010–2015 period of the SLFP-led government was characterized by high economic growth and
3900-688: The state takeover of foreign businesses which upset the United States and Britain . Consequently, this augmented the SLFP's foreign policy shift towards the East and the Non-Aligned Movement. Further, in 1972, the SLFP led government oversaw the introduction of a new constitution which changed the country's name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka and declared Sri Lanka to be a republic. During her term in office, Sirimavo Bandaranaike achieved high international standing, being chosen as chairman of
3965-723: The trend of the SLFP forging alliances with other leftist parties such as the Communist Party of Sri Lanka and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party , a trend which the SLFP continues to this day. Under Sirimavo Bandaranaike's leadership, SLFP governments nationalized key sectors of the economy such as banking and insurance, the Ceylon Transport Board and also all schools then owned by the Roman Catholic Church . Issues arose during
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#17327731984944030-519: Was appointed as parliamentary leader of the SLFP and the official Leader of the Opposition . During Sirisena's term as president, SLFP members came to dominate the cabinet numerically, albeit largely with lower ranking positions. The SLFP, especially the Rajapaksa faction, was instrumental in revising the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka proposed by the UNP, so as to reduce
4095-464: Was built in the way of a migratory route for birds. Other policies of the Rajapaksa government include programs to aid farmers and agricultural production, such as the re-launch of the farmer's pension scheme and subsidization of fertilizers. In the area of foreign policy, the Rajapaksa government was seen to align itself towards the East, in accordance with SLFP tradition. This situation was augmented by
4160-596: Was formed, consisting of the SLFP, the Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya led by Wimal Weerawansa and the Freedom People's Congress led by Dullas Alahapperuma . All three parties were parties formerly aligned with the SLPP-led SLPFA who later defected from the alliance. The political alliance was a short-lived one, formed to contest in the 2023 local government elections which ultimately never took place. The Freedom People's Congress would again defect to
4225-429: Was routed in the 1977 election . This would be the start of the party's 17 years in opposition. This period of opposition was made greatly difficult after President J. R. Jayewardene 's government stripped Sirimavo Bandaranaike of her civic rights for 7 years and expelled her from parliament. As a result, the SLFP fielded Hector Kobbekaduwa as their candidate at the 1982 presidential election , who failed to deliver
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