1994 Sri Lankan parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 16 August 1994. They marked the decisive end of seventeen years of United National Party rule and a revival of Sri Lankan democracy.

1994 Sri Lankan parliamentary election

16 August 1994

All 225 seats in the Parliament of Sri Lanka
113 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout76.24%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Chandrika Kumaratunga D. B. Wijetunga
Party People's Alliance UNP
Leader since 1994 1993
Leader's seat Gampaha District n/a
Last election 31.8%, 67 seats[lower-alpha 1] 50.7%, 125 seats
Seats won 105 94
Seat change Increase38 Decrease31
Popular vote 3,887,823 3,498,370
Percentage 48.94% 44.04%

Winners of polling divisions. PA in blue and UNP in green.

Prime Minister before election

Ranil Wickremasinghe
UNP

Prime Minister-designate

Chandrika Kumaratunga
People's Alliance

Background

Democracy in Sri Lanka had seemed doomed as the presidencies of J.R. Jayewardene and Ranasinghe Premadasa arbitrarily banned opposition parties, severely muzzled the media, and routinely used death squads, torture, and kidnappings in the two civil conflicts against the LTTE and JVP. The UNP had simply cancelled the 1983 parliamentary elections; its control of the media led it to victory in the 1988 and 1989 elections.

The population was increasingly tired of war and repression, worn out with jingoistic Sinhalese nationalism, and wanted a return to freedom, peace, and democracy. Chandrika Kumaratunga, leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, formed a coalition with small leftist parties called the People's Alliance. This was in some ways a revival of her mother's coalition from the 1970s, but this time campaigning for rapprochement with the Tamils rather than their marginalization.

Results

The PA did not win a majority, but was able to govern with the support of the smaller parties.

PartyVotes%Seats
DistrictNationalTotal
People's Alliance[lower-alpha 2]3,887,82348.949114105
United National Party[lower-alpha 3]3,498,37044.04811394
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress143,3071.80617
Tamil United Liberation Front132,4611.67415
Sri Lanka Progressive Front[lower-alpha 4]90,0781.13101
Mahajana Eksath Peramuna68,5380.86000
EROSPLOTETELO[lower-alpha 5]38,0280.48303
Up-Country People's Front[lower-alpha 6]27,3740.34101
Eelam People's Democratic Party[lower-alpha 7]10,7440.14909
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front9,4110.12000
Nava Sama Samaja Party2,0940.03000
Bahujana Nidahas Peramuna8130.01000
Democratic Workers Congress5890.01000
Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya2670.00000
Independents33,8090.43000
Total7,943,706100.0019629225
Valid votes7,943,70695.20
Invalid/blank votes400,3894.80
Total votes8,344,095100.00
Registered voters/turnout10,945,06576.24
Source: Electoral Commission

By province

By electoral district

Elected members

Legacy

The 1994 election did not live up to its great hopes. The PA government was unable to come to an agreement with the LTTE, and ended up prosecuting war just as brutally as its UNP predecessor. The Executive Presidency, which Kumaratunga had promised to abolish, remained as powerful as before.

Notes

  1. As Sri Lanka Freedom Party
  2. Consisting of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, the Desha Vimukthi Janatha Party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya.
  3. Including the Ceylon Workers' Congress.
  4. Including the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.
  5. Contested as TELO in Ampara District, Batticaloa District, Colombo District and Trincomalee District; as DPLF in Vanni District and as an independent group in Jaffna District.
  6. Contested as an independent group in Nuwara Eliya District.
  7. Contested as an independent group in Jaffna District.

References

    • "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1994" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-06.
    • "Table 40 Parliament Election (1994)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
    • "Sri Lanka Parliamentary Chamber: Parliament Elections Held in 1994". Inter-Parliamentary Union.
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