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United National Party

The Story of the Major Tradition

This web site is dedicated to the book ‘United National Party: The Story of the Major Tradition,’ which is the fruit of prolong and in-depth research on the history of the United National Party (UNP,) once the largest political party Sri Lanka. The book takes readers inside the back rooms and living rooms where politics actually happens and tells the tale of the early stages of the UNP, from 1946 to 1977, with reportorial verve, a keen eye, a sharp pen, and a wealth of fresh insight on the formation, the political agenda, strategy, the victories and aching disappointments that have come along with it.

PART 1 of the book gives a short introduction of the Socio-Economical background which lead to establishment of the UNP, PART II gives a detailed historic facts on the political developments of the first 30 years after the independence from the British rule while PART III covers the numerous affiliate bodies of UNP including the Youth League, Women's League, Student Union, trade unions and the election manifestoes, list of office bearers, party song, and all candidate who contested under the UNP ticket up to 1977.

What is UNP?

The United National Party is the only political party in the political history of Sri Lanka which has been continuously represented in all Parliaments since independence. It is also the only political party that has contested all elections since independence, excluding the 2010 Presidential Election, where it joined a common alliance of opposition political parties to support the former army commander Sarath Fonseka.

The United National Party that has recorded innumerable achievements and triumphs in the field of politics and raised a number of outstanding leaders into the local political arena from relative obscurity. Until the recent set backs this year in elections it was considered the largest political party in Sri Lanka.