Interviews begin to register new political parties, 47 shortlisted
August 19, 2025 10:43 am
The National Election Commission (EC) states that interviews for new political parties applying for registration for the year 2025 have commenced.
Commissioner-General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake noted that 47 political parties have been selected for preliminary interviews.
Applications for registering political parties for this year were called in February, during which a total of 83 applications were submitted.
Out of these 83 applications, 36 were rejected due to failure to meet the basic requirements, according to Commissioner-General Ratnayake.
Accordingly, preliminary interviews are currently being conducted for the remaining 47 applications.
Political parties selected from these initial interviews will be invited to a second round of interviews.
Following the second round, those parties that qualify will be officially registered as new political parties for the year 2025, the Election Commission confirmed.
At present, there are 86 recognized political parties in Sri Lanka.
