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National People's Power
The National People's Power (NPP) or Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) is a centre-left[11] to left-wing political alliance in Sri Lanka. It was formed as a coalition of left-wing and progressive parties that aimed to present an alternative to the existing political establishment.[12] The NPP emerged as a response to the perceived failures of traditional parties in the Sri Lankan political system. It is the current ruling party of Sri Lanka, having won the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections, and is currently the largest party in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the current leader of the party and Nihal Abeysinghe is the general secretary.[13][14] Established in 2019,[1][15] the NPP consists of 21 diverse groups, including political parties and other organisations.[16] It contests in elections under the compass symbol. Considered an electorally weak third-party before the 2024 presidential election, it briefly formed a minority government under president Anura Kumara Dissanayake following his election. In the subsequent parliamentary elections, the NPP became the largest party in the parliament for the first time with 159 seats, winning a supermajority. HistoryThe NPP was formed by the members of the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and over 20 other diverse groups, including political parties, worker unions, women's rights groups and youth organizations including members of ethnic minority communities.[citation needed] Opposition (2019–2024)In the 2020 parliamentary elections, the SLPP achieved a landslide victory as the ruling party, while the Samagi Jana Balawegaya became the main opposition party. The NPP only secured 3 seats and remained a third party. Dissanayake later said in a speech that he was not satisfied with the SLPP's victory and the NPP's defeat. When the 20th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka was announced, the NPP launched a protest against it.[17][18] In government (2024–present)The NPP saw a surge in popular support during the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, amid dissatisfaction with the incumbent political establishment and the economic crisis. In the first vote count of the 2024 presidential election, NPP presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake won a plurality of the vote, with 42.31%.[19] Once the second round of vote counting concluded, Dissanayake was declared the winner and elected president, securing 55.89% of the vote.[20] The following day, Dissanayake formed an interim 3-member NPP government.[21] Shortly after his inauguration, President Dissanayake dissolved parliament and called for snap parliamentary elections, fulfilling one of his campaign pledges.[22] In the elections, which were held on 14 November 2024, the NPP won a supermajority, securing 159 seats in the 225-member Parliament of Sri Lanka. The NPP won every electoral district except for Batticaloa.[23] The NPP's majority was the second-largest majority in the country's parliamentary history, and the first election since 1977 where a single party managed to achieve a supermajority. The NPP secured 6,863,186 votes, the highest ever obtained by a single political party in a general election, surpassing the 6,853,690 votes won by the SLPFA in 2020. The NPP also won a record breaking 61.56% of the total vote, overtaking the previous record of 60.33% won by the UPFA in 2010. The NPP won the most seats in the Jaffna District, thus making it the first non-Tamil political party to win this district.[24] Altogether, the NPP won 21 out of 22 electoral districts, and 152 constituencies.[25] Vijitha Hearath, contesting from Gampaha District, won 716,715 preferential votes, the highest ever recorded by a candidate in Sri Lanka. This surpassed previous records set by Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2015 (500,566 votes), Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2020 (527,364 votes), and Harini Amarasuriya earlier in the election with 655,289 votes from the Colombo District.[26] The election also witnessed a milestone in women's representation, with a record 21 female MPs elected, the highest in Sri Lanka's parliamentary history. Among them, 19 represented the NPP.[27] IdeologyThe National People's Power is ideologically left-wing populist[28] and working-class centred. The NPP is led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, the main communist party of Sri Lanka.[29] The NPP promotes a unique Sri Lankan economic model based on socialist principles and considers both neoliberalism and 'classical socialism' to be failures.[30] The NPP claims to oppose excessive privatization[31] and supports the state maintaining a role in energy, financial markets, and sectors directly related to national security while limiting involvement in profit-driven businesses.[32] MembersThe NPP is composed of 21 groups, including political parties, youth organizations, women's groups, trade unions, and civil society organizations.[16]
LeadershipAs of 5 October 2024, the current office bearers of the NPP are as shown below.[33]
Leaders
Electoral historyPresidential
As of 2024[update], there have been a total of 1 National People's Power presidents.
Parliamentary
As of 2024[update], there have been a total of 1 National People's Power prime ministers.
Local Authorities
See alsoNotes
References
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