# Leader of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)

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.

### Other privileges

The leader of the opposition is entitled to an official residence, office, transport and security equal that of a Cabinet Minister.

### 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.

## Leaders of the opposition (1947–present)
### Parties

Lanka Sama Samaja Party  Sri Lanka Freedom Party  United National Party  Tamil United Liberation Front  Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi  Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna  Samagi Jana Balawegaya
| No. (Terms) | No. (Terms) | Opposition Leader | Opposition Leader | Political party | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Government | Government |
| No. (Terms) | No. (Terms) | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Political party | Took office | Left office | Days | Government | Government |
| 1 | | | N. M. Perera ඇන්. ඇම්. පෙරේරා (1905–1979) | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 14 October 1947 | 8 April 1952 | 1638 | D. S. Senanayake | 1st |
| 1 | | | N. M. Perera ඇන්. ඇම්. පෙරේරා (1905–1979) | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 14 October 1947 | 8 April 1952 | 1638 | Dudley Senanayake I | 1st |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 8 April 1952 | 9 June 1952 | 62 | Dudley Senanayake I | – |
| 2 | | | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike එස්. ඩබ්. ආර්. ඩී. බණ්ඩාරනායක (1899–1959) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 9 June 1952 | 18 February 1956 | 1349 | Dudley Senanayake I | 2nd |
| 2 | | | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike එස්. ඩබ්. ආර්. ඩී. බණ්ඩාරනායක (1899–1959) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 9 June 1952 | 18 February 1956 | 1349 | Kotelawala | 2nd |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 18 February 1956 | 19 April 1956 | 61 | Kotelawala | – |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 18 February 1956 | 19 April 1956 | 61 | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike | 3rd |
| (1) | | | N. M. Perera ඇන්. ඇම්. පෙරේරා (1905–1979) | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 19 April 1956 | 5 December 1959 | 1325 | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike | 3rd |
| (1) | | | N. M. Perera ඇන්. ඇම්. පෙරේරා (1905–1979) | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 19 April 1956 | 5 December 1959 | 1325 | Dahanayake | 3rd |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 5 December 1959 | 30 March 1960 | 116 | Dahanayake | – |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 5 December 1959 | 30 March 1960 | 116 | Dudley Senanayake II | – |
| 3 | | | C. P. de Silva සී. පී. ද සිල්වා (1912–1972) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 30 March 1960 | 23 April 1960 | 24 | Dudley Senanayake II | 4th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 23 April 1960 | 5 August 1960 | 104 | Dudley Senanayake II | – |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 23 April 1960 | 5 August 1960 | 104 | Sirimavo Bandaranayake I | – |
| 4 | | | Dudley Senanayake ඩඩ්ලි සේනානායක (1911–1973) | United National Party | 5 August 1960 | 17 December 1964 | 1595 | Sirimavo Bandaranayake I | 5th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 17 December 1964 | 5 April 1965 | 109 | Sirimavo Bandaranayake I | – |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 17 December 1964 | 5 April 1965 | 109 | Dudley Senanayake III | – |
| 5 | | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක (1916–2000) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 5 April 1965 | 25 March 1970 | 1815 | Dudley Senanayake III | 6th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 25 March 1970 | 7 June 1970 | 74 | Dudley Senanayake III | – |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 25 March 1970 | 7 June 1970 | 74 | Sirimavo Bandaranayake II | – |
| 6 | | | J. R. Jayewardene ජේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධන (1906–1996) | United National Party | 7 June 1970 | 18 May 1977 | 2537 | Sirimavo Bandaranayake II | 7th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 18 May 1977 | 4 August 1977 | 78 | Sirimavo Bandaranayake II | – |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 18 May 1977 | 4 August 1977 | 78 | Jayewardene | – |
| 7 | | | A. Amirthalingam அப்பாப்பிள்ளை அமிர்தலிங்கம் (1927–1989) | Tamil United Liberation Front | 4 August 1977 | 24 October 1983 | 2272 | Jayewardene | 8th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 24 October 1983 | 8 November 1983 | 15 | Jayewardene | 8th |
| 8 | | | Anura Bandaranaike අනුර බණ්ඩාරනායක (1949–2008) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 8 November 1983 | 20 December 1988 | 1869 | Jayewardene | 8th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 20 December 1988 | 9 March 1989 | 79 | Jayewardene | – |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 20 December 1988 | 9 March 1989 | 79 | Premadasa | – |
| (5) | | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක (1916–2000) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 9 March 1989 | 24 June 1994 | 1902 | Premadasa | 9th |
| (5) | | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක (1916–2000) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 9 March 1989 | 24 June 1994 | 1902 | Wijetunga | 9th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 24 June 1994 | 25 August 1994 | 62 | Wijetunga | – |
| 9 | | | Gamini Dissanayake ගාමිණි දිසානායක (1942–1994) | United National Party | 25 August 1994 | 24 October 1994 | 60 | Wijetunga | 10th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 24 October 1994 | 28 October 1994 | 4 | Wijetunga | 10th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 24 October 1994 | 28 October 1994 | 4 | Kumaratunga | 10th |
| 10 | | | Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ (born 1949) | United National Party | 28 October 1994 | 10 October 2001 | 2549 | Kumaratunga | 10th 11th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 10 October 2001 | 18 December 2001 | 69 | Kumaratunga | – |
| 11 | | | Ratnasiri Wickremanayake රත්නසිරි වික්‍රමනායක (1933–2016) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 18 December 2001 | 31 January 2002 | 378 | Kumaratunga | 12th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 31 January 2002 | 6 February 2002 | 6 | Kumaratunga | 12th |
| 12 | | | Mahinda Rajapaksa මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ (born 1945) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 6 February 2002 | 7 February 2004 | 730 | Kumaratunga | 12th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 7 February 2004 | 22 April 2004 | 75 | Kumaratunga | – |
| (10) | | | Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ (born 1949) | United National Party | 22 April 2004 | 9 January 2015 | 3914 | Kumaratunga | 13th |
| (10) | | | Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ (born 1949) | United National Party | 22 April 2004 | 9 January 2015 | 3914 | Mahinda Rajapaksa | 14th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 9 January 2015 | 16 January 2015 | 7 | Sirisena I | 14th |
| 13 | | | Nimal Siripala de Silva නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා (born 1944) | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 16 January 2015 | 26 June 2015 | 130 | Sirisena I | 14th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 26 June 2015 | 3 September 2015 | 69 | Sirisena I | – |
| 14 | | | R. Sampanthan இரா. சம்பந்தன் (1933–2024) | Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi | 3 September 2015 | 18 December 2018 | 1202 | Sirisena II | 15th |
| (12) | | | Mahinda Rajapaksa මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ (born 1945) | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | 18 December 2018 | 21 November 2019 | 338 | Sirisena IV | 15th |
| | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | Office vacant | 21 November 2019 | 3 January 2020 | 43 | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | 15th |
| 15 | | | Sajith Premadasa සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස (born 1967) | Samagi Jana Balawegaya | 3 January 2020 | Incumbent | 1887 | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | 15th |
| 15 | | | Sajith Premadasa සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස (born 1967) | Samagi Jana Balawegaya | 3 January 2020 | Incumbent | 1887 | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | 16th |
| 15 | | | Sajith Premadasa සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස (born 1967) | Samagi Jana Balawegaya | 3 January 2020 | Incumbent | 1887 | Wickremesinghe | 16th |
| 15 | | | Sajith Premadasa සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස (born 1967) | Samagi Jana Balawegaya | 3 January 2020 | Incumbent | 1887 | Dissnayake | 17th |