The Freedom People's Alliance (

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

FPA; si, නිදහස් ජනතා සන්ධානය ''Nidahas Janathā Sandānaya''; ta, சுதந்திர மக்கள் கூட்டணி ''Cutantira Makkaḷ Kūṭṭaṇi'') is a

political alliance A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used differ ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

founded in 2023 to contest in the upcoming local elections. The alliance consists of 12 political parties, including the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

(SFLP), the Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya and the Freedom People's Congress. According to ULS chairman

Wimal Weerawansa Weerasangilige Wimal Weerawansa (born 7 March 1970) is a Sri Lankan politician, Member of Parliament and current leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF). Weerawansa has served many cabinet positions, including Minister of Industries from 2020 ...

, the alliance does not have a single leader; instead, it has a leadership board.

Background

On 31 October 2019, seventeen parties including the

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna The Sri Lanka People's Front ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ, translit=Śrī Laṃkā Podujana Peramuna; ta, இலங்கை பொதுஜன முன்னணி, translit=Ilaṅkai Potujaṉa Mu� ...

(SLPP) and the SLFP signed an agreement at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

to form the

Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance The Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated SLPFA; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පොදුජන සන්ධානය, translit=Śrī Laṃkā Nidahas Podujana Sandhānaya; ta, ஶ்ரீ லங்கா ப ...

(SLPFA), a political alliance led by former President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

. The alliance supported the SLPP candidate, Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan militar ...

in the 2019 presidential election. Gotabaya won the election and became

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

, installing Mahinda as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. The alliance went on to contest the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections, winning a landslide victory with 145 seats. However, between 2021 and 2022 the Rajapaksa government lost much of its popularity. The ongoing economic crisis continued to deteriorate due to mismanagement by the government. By 2021, Sri Lanka's

debt-to-GDP ratio In economics, the debt-to-GDP ratio is the ratio between a country's government debt (measured in units of currency) and its gross domestic product (GDP) (measured in units of currency per year). While it is a "ratio", it is technically measured i ...

had risen to 119%. The government had also become highly

nepotistic Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

, with another Rajapaksa brother,

Basil Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...

, serving as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

and several more members of the

Rajapaksa family The Rajapaksa family ( si, රාජපක්ෂ, translit=Rājapakṣa) is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the fami ...

holding prominent positions in the government. On 5 April 2022, amidst street protests against the Rajapaksa government and a brewing

political crisis Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, the SLPP began losing many of its key allies in the SLPFA, including the SLFP. SLFP leader and former President

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

pledged that his party would become politically neutral and would contest future elections separately from the SLPP.

History

On 11 January 2023, the Freedom People's Alliance was ceremoniously launched at the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. At the event, Freedom People's Congress leader

Dullas Alahapperuma Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma (born May 14, 1959) is a Sri Lankan politician and founder and current leader of the Freedom People's Congress. Alahapperuma is also a former Cabinet Minister of Information and Mass Media and a current Member of ...

stated that the group's main objective was to fight

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, in ...

in Sri Lanka and safeguard the

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

, while conceding that the previous support of FPA constituent parties for the Rajapaksa government had been a "mistake".

Composition

The alliance currently consists of the following parties: SLFP chairman Maithripala Sirisena has encouraged other parties to join the alliance.

References

External links

{{Sri Lankan political parties Sri Lanka Freedom Party Jathika Nidahas Peramuna Lanka Sama Samaja Party Communist Party of Sri Lanka Democratic People's Front 2023 establishments in Sri Lanka Political parties established in 2023 Political party alliances in Sri Lanka