The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 ...

. The party is currently led by

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 ...

Dinesh Gunawardena Dinesh Chandra Rupasinghe Gunawardena ( si, දිනේෂ් චන්ද්‍ර රූපසිංහ ගුණවර්ධන, ta, தினேஷ் சந்திர ரூபசிங்க குணவர்தன; born 2 March 1949) ...

, son of

Philip Gunawardena Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena (11 January 1901 – 26 March 1972) was a Sri Lankan Marxist politician and leftist. A founder of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, the first political party in Ceylon which was known for having introduced Trotskyi ...

, the founder of the party.

History

Under Philip Gunawardena

The MEP was founded in 1959 by

and PH

William de Silva Peduru Hewage William de Silva (8 December 1908 – 30 July 1988) was a 20th-century Marxist/Trotskyist Sri Lankan politician.

. The party was named after the

Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956) The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) was electoral alliance founded in 1956. It consisted of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party led by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party led by Philip Gunawardena and ''Sinhal ...

, an

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

-led alliance which Gunawardena was a member of, after its disbandment that year. During the March 1960 Ceylonese parliamentary elections, the MEP obtained 10 parliamentary seats. In the 1960s the group joined with the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா� ...

and the

Communist Party of Sri Lanka The Communist Party of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය, ''Sri Lankavay Komiyunist Pakshaya'' ta, இலங்கை கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி, trans ...

to form the United Left Front. On September 29, 1963, 800 delegates, representing a million workers, ratified a charter of 21 demands that sought to encapsulate the demands and goals of Sri Lankan workers.Chapter 19: Anguish and pain
Asia Times Online - December 15, 2001

National Government the United National Party

In 1965, the party joined hands with

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Mi ...

of the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

to form a national government under Senanayake's leadership. During this time, Philip Gunawardena was appointed as a cabinet minister.

Under Dinesh Gunawardana

Following his father's death in 1972,

became the new leader of the MEP. In 1983, Dinesh Gunawardena became the common candidate to contest in the Maharagama by-election under the MEP's symbol, a cartwheel, in which he won with an overwhelming majority to become one of the 8 members of the opposition in the Sri Lankan Parliament. In 1989, the MEP contested alone under the new proportional representation electoral system and won only 3 parliamentary seats out of 225, with Dinesh Gunawardena MP for Colombo District,

Bandula Gunawardane Sumithra Arachchige Don Bandula Chandrasiri Gunawardane (born 15 March 1953) is a Sri Lankan politician, teacher and film producer who is a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka for Colombo District, and a former government minister. Early lif ...

MP for Colombo District and

Gitanjana Gunawardena Gitanjana Gunawardena is a Sri Lankan politician and former member of Parliament of Sri Lanka and former minister. He is a Chartered Engineer by profession. Personal life Born 24 February 1952 as son of Philip Gunawardena and Kusuma Amarasinha ...

as a

National List The National List ( he, רשימה ממלכתית, ''Reshima Mamlakhtit''), sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is ...

MP.

Peoples' Alliance

In 2000, the MEP became one of the constituent members of the Peoples' Alliance, a political alliance led by the

, where the MEP had 3 representatives in Parliament (Dinesh Gunawardena, Bandula Gunawardena and Somaweera Chandrasiri).

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக� ...

In the 2004 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections, the party was part of the

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக� ...

, which won 45.6% of the popular vote and 105 out of 225 seats. There were two MEP representatives in the parliament including one National List MP. The two representatives were Minister of Urban Development and Sacred Areas Development and Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena and Housing Minister Gitanjana Gunawardena. In the 2010 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections, the UPFA won nearly two-thirds of the Parliament, with 143 out of 225 seats.

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 ...

In 2019, the MEP joined the Sri Lanka People's Freedom 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 ...

. In the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections, the SLFPA won a landslide victory, winning 145 out of 225 seats of the Parliament. On 22 June, 2022, following the

appointment Appointment may refer to: Law *The prerogative power of a government official or executive to select persons to fill an honorary position or employment in the government (political appointments, poets laureate) *Power of appointment, the legal a ...

Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

as the president of Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe appointed MEP leader

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 ...

Electoral history

References

{{Authority control 1959 establishments in Ceylon Political parties established in 1959 Political parties in Sri Lanka United People's Freedom Alliance