In Sri Lanka, the leader of the opposition is the leader of the largest political party in Parliament that is not a part of the government. This is usually the leader of the second-largest party in Parliament.
Leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya Sajith Premadasa has been the incumbent leader of the opposition in the Parliament since 3 January 2020. He was officially sworn in on 20 August 2020, after the speaker announced his appointment in parliament.
Privileges of office Salary In 2016, the leader of the opposition received a salary month and other entitlements of a Member of Parliament.Of Ministers’ Salaries And Parliamentary Perks
Other privileges The leader of the opposition is entitled to an official residence, office, transport and security equal that of a Cabinet Minister.No official residence for Opposition LeaderSampanthan finally gets official residence!
Order of precedence In the Sri Lankan order of precedence, the leader of the opposition is ranked at the level of a Cabinet Minister in the order of precedence.
List of leaders of the opposition
Parties
No. Portrait Name Political party Term of office Parliament Took office Left office Days 1 N. M. Perera Lanka Sama Samaja Party 14 October 1947 8 April 1952 1st 2 S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Sri Lanka Freedom Party 9 June 1952 18 February 1956 2nd (1) N. M. Perera Lanka Sama Samaja Party 19 April 1956 5 December 1959 3rd 3 C. P. de Silva Sri Lanka Freedom Party 30 March 1960 23 April 1960 4th 4 Dudley Senanayake United National Party 5 August 1960 17 December 1964 5th 5 Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sri Lanka Freedom Party 5 April 1965 25 March 1970 6th 6 J. R. Jayewardene United National Party 7 June 1970 18 May 1977 7th 7 A. Amirthalingam Tamil United Liberation Front 4 August 1977 24 October 1983 8th Office vacant 24 October 1983 8 November 1983 8 Anura Bandaranaike Sri Lanka Freedom Party 8 November 1983 20 December 1988 (5) Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sri Lanka Freedom Party 9 March 1989 24 June 1994 9th 9 Gamini Dissanayake United National Party 25 August 1994 24 October 1994 10th Office vacant 24 October 1994 28 October 1994 10 Ranil Wickremesinghe United National Party 28 October 1994 10 October 2001 11th 11 Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Sri Lanka Freedom Party 18 December 2001 31 January 2002 12th Office vacant 31 January 2002 6 February 2002 12 Mahinda Rajapaksa Sri Lanka Freedom Party 6 February 2002 7 February 2004 (10) Ranil Wickremesinghe United National Party 22 April 2004 9 January 2015 13th 14th Office vacant 9 January 2015 16 January 2015 13 Nimal Siripala de Silva Sri Lanka Freedom Party 16 January 2015 26 June 2015 14 R. Sampanthan Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi 3 September 2015 18 December 2018 15th (12) Mahinda Rajapaksa Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna 18 December 2018 21 November 2019 Office vacant 21 November 2019 3 January 2020 15 Sajith Premadasa Samagi Jana Balawegaya 3 January 2020 Incumbent 16th 17th
List of leaders of the opposition by length of term Name Party No. of terms Length of term Longest continuous term Total duration of leadership 1 UNP 2 17 years, 258 days 2 SLFP 2 10 years, 67 days 3 LSSP 2 8 years, 43 days 4 UNP 1 5 SJB 1 6 TULF 1 7 SLFP 1 8 UNP 1 9 SLFP 1 10 ITAK 1 11 SLFP/SLPP 2 2 years, 338 days 12 SLFP 1 13 UNP 1 14 SLFP 1 15 SLFP 1
Timeline
See also President of Sri Lanka List of presidents of Sri Lanka Prime Minister of Sri Lanka List of prime ministers of Sri Lanka
References
External links Parliament of Sri Lanka - Handbook of Parliament, Leaders of the Opposition