The 63rd anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party SLFP will be held today in the backdrop of the campaign for the Uva Provincial Council.

The anniversary will be marked by a rally under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Vincent Dias stadium in Badulla. It will commence at 2.00 p.m. and a massive crowd is expected.

The SLFP is one of the major political parties in Sri Lanka. It was formed by several former leaders of the UNP led by SWRD Bandaranaike on September 2, 1951. Bandaranaike led the SLFP-led alliance Mahajana Eksath Peramuna to a thumping electoral victory in 1956.

Following his assassination in September 1959, the SLFP faced a crisis period which was brought under control when his widow Sirimavo Bandaranaike took the leadership of the party. She became the first woman Prime Minister in the world in July 1960. She was the Prime Minister of the country in SLFP or SLFP-led governments from 1960-65 and 1970-77.

After a long time in the opposition, SLFP-led People’s Alliance came to power in 1994 and held it until 2001. Then in 2004, SLFP-led UPFA came to power. For the last 20 years, Sri Lanka’s Presidents have been from the SLFP.

The party has said that it has invited representatives of other parties to attend the anniversary celebrations too.

Meanwhile, the main opposition, the UNP, will hold its 68th anniversary celebration in Passara, Badulla District on September 6.