The National People's Power (NPP), known in Sinhala as the Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB), is a left-wing political alliance in Sri Lanka. It is the current ruling party of Sri Lanka, having won the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the current leader of the party and Nihal Abeysinghe is the general secretary.

Established in 2019, the NPP is an alliance led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna consisting of 21 different groups, including political parties and other organisations. It contests in elections under the compass symbol. Considered an electorally weak third-party prior to 2024, 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.

History The NPP was formed by the members of the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and over 20 other groups, including political parties, worker unions, women's rights groups and youth organizations including members of ethnic minority communities. It was formed as a coalition of left-wing and progressive parties that aimed to present an alternative to the existing political establishment in Sri Lanka.

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 unsatisfied 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.

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%. Once the second round of vote counting concluded, Dissanayake was declared the winner and elected president, securing 55.89% of the vote. The following day, Dissanayake formed an interim 3-member NPP government.

Shortly after his inauguration, President Dissanayake dissolved parliament and called for snap parliamentary elections, fulfilling one of his campaign pledges. 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.

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. Altogether, the NPP won 21 out of 22 electoral districts, and 152 constituencies.

Vijitha Herath, 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. 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.

Ideology The National People's Power is ideologically left-wing populist and working-class centred. The NPP promotes a unique Sri Lankan economic model based on socialist principles and considers both neoliberalism and "classical socialism" to be failures. The NPP claims to oppose excessive privatisation 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.

Members The NPP is composed of 21 groups, including political parties, youth organisations, women's groups, trade unions, and civil society organisations.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Aluth Parapura Ethera Api Public Servants for Public Service National Bhikkhu Front National Trade Union Centre Sri Lanka Communist Party (Alternative Group) Doctors for Social Justice Samabhimani Collective United Left Power Inter Company Employees' Union 71 Sahodrathwa Sansadaya Aluth Piyapath Mass Guiding Artists Janodanaya National Intellectuals Organization Dabindu Collective University Teachers for Social Justice Progressive Women's Collective Husmata Husmak All Ceylon Estate Workers' Union

Leadership As of , the current office bearers of the National People's Power are as shown below. PositionName Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake General Secretary Nihal Abeysinghe Treasurer Eranga GunasekaraDeputy Secretaries Harini Amarasuriya Lal Wijenayake

Leaders No. Leader(birth–death) Electoral District Took office Left office Tenure General Secretary 1Anura Kumara Dissanayake(b. 1968)Colombo13 July 2019Incumbent Nihal Abeysinghe

NPP Presidents There has been a total of 1 National People's Power president.

No.PortraitPresident(birth–death)Home ProvinceTook officeLeft officeTenurePM PortraitPrime Minister (term)(1) Anura Kumara Dissanayake(b. 1968) Western 23 September 2024 Incumbent Harini Amarasuriya

Electoral history Presidential Election Candidate First round Second round Result Ref Votes % Votes % 2019 Anura Kumara Dissanayake 418,553 3.16% colspan=2 2022 3 (E.V) 1.37% colspan=2 2024 5,634,915 42.31% 5,740,179 55.89%

NPP presidents , there have been a total of 1 National People's Power presidents.

# President(birth–death) Home province Took office Left office TenurePrime ministers 10Anura Kumara Dissanayake(b. 1968)Western23 September 2024IncumbentAmarasuriya

Parliamentary + Parliament of Sri Lanka Election Leader Votes Seats Result Ref No. % No. %2015Anura Kumara Dissanayake543,9444.87%NewNew 2020 445,958 3.84% 3 1.33% 2024 6,863,186 61.56% 156 70.67%

NPP prime ministers , there have been a total of 1 National People's Power prime ministers.

No. Prime Minister(birth–death) Electoral District Took office Left office TenurePresident 1Harini Amarasuriya(b. 1970)Colombo24 September 2024IncumbentDissanayake

Local Authorities Election Leader VotesCouncillorsLocal Authorities Ref No. % No. 2018Anura Kumara Dissanayake710,9325.75%New2019 (Elpitiya)2,4355.80%New2024 (Elpitiya) 17,295 47.64% 1320254,503,93043.26% 3,493

See also Deshapremi Janatha Vyaparaya NPP Kottasha Sabha

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