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Liberal Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Kamal Nissanka |
| President | Shirman Gunathilaka |
| Secretary-General | K.S.T Perera |
| Founder | Chanaka Amaratunga |
| Founded | 19 January 1987 (38 years ago) (1987-01-19) |
| Split from | United National Party |
| Preceded by | Council for Liberal Democracy |
| Headquarters | No 583, Jude Mawatha, Kandana |
| Ideology | Liberal democracy |
| Political position | Centre |
| Continental affiliation | Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Colors | Golden yelow [sic?] with bleck [sic?] |
| Parliament of Sri Lanka | 0 / 225 |
| Local Government | 1 / 8,356 |
| Election symbol | |
Book | |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheLiberal Democratic Party (Sinhala:ලිබරල් ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී පක්ෂයLibaral Pakshaya;Tamil:லிபரல் கட்சி,romanized: Liparal Kaṭci), formerly known as theLiberal Party is a political party inSri Lanka which initially began as a think-tank called theCouncil for Liberal Democracy. The party was founded in 1981 by Dr.Chanaka Amaratunga, a longstanding member of theUnited National Party, which was at the time the ruling party of Sri Lanka.
The CLD broke up with the UNP in 1982 over the1982 referendum, which postponed parliamentary elections for six years. After four years of attempts to promoteliberal thinking in Sri Lanka, in particular with regard to constitutional reforms that would promotedevolution along with separation and reduction of powers at the center, Dr Amaratunga and several of his associates eventually relaunched the CLD as theLiberal Party in February 1987.
Though the party never established itself as an electoral success, the Liberal Party continued to have an impact as a think-tank. It contributed seminally to the manifestoes of presidential candidatesSirimavo Bandaranaike andGamini Dissanayake in1988 and1994 respectively.
In 1996, Dr Amaratunga died in a car trash, which led to a significant reduction in party activity. Amaratunga's successorRajiva Wijesinha contested in the2000 parliamentary elections and came 6th in a field of 15, a success that served to advance the image of the party.
On 19 June 2022, the Liberal Party was renamed as the Liberal Democratic Party. The first congress of the LDP was held on 26 July 2022. Kamal Nissanka is the current leader of the party and Amal Randeniya is the current general secretary.
