Jathika Hela Urumaya

The Jathika Hela Urumaya ( Sinhala: ජාතික හෙළ උරුමය, "party of the national heritage "; short JHU ) is a party founded by Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka.

History

In the parliamentary elections on April 2, 2004, the party was founded in February 2004 reached 6.0% of the vote and won nine of the 225 seats. All candidates were Buddhist monks. The JHU supported the election of Mahinda Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Prime Minister. In 2007, she joined a coalition government and since then has been with Champika Ranawaka Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

A constitutional challenge prevented the JHU 2005 to extend the tenure of President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Objectives

The key objectives of the party are the preservation of the national heritage, environmental protection and the promotion of Buddhism. It pursues a Sinhala nationalist course and is against the establishment of an independent state of Tamil.