Parliamentary elections were held in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

on 8 and 20 April 2010, to elect 225 members to

's 14th

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. 14,088,500 Sri Lankans were eligible to vote in the election at 11,102 polling stations. It was the first general election held in Sri Lanka following the conclusion of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

which lasted 26 years. The main parties contesting in the election were the party of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse, the ruling

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance ( abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக ...

(UPFA), the main opposition United National Front (UNF) and the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) of

Sarath Fonseka Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka ( si, ගාර්දිහේවා සරත් චන්ද්‍රලාල් ෆොන්සේකා, ta, சரத் பொன்சேகா; born 18 December 1950), commonly know ...

. President Rajapakse was previously reelected as president in January 2010. As expected, the UPFA secured a landslide victory in the elections, buoyed by its achievement of ending the 30 year Sri Lankan Civil War by defeating the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

in May 2009. The UPFA won a large majority in the house, obtaining 144 seats, an increase of 39 since the 2004 election. The main opposition UNF is won 60 seats, a decline of 22. The minority

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

party

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lan ...

(TNA) won 14 seats, down from the 22 they won in 2004, and the DNA, contesting for the first time, won 7 seats. The UPFA however fell short of its goal of obtaining a two-thirds supermajority in the house, which it would have needed to change the constitution on its own. The election saw the lowest

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...

since independence. While the elections were initially scheduled to be concluded on 8 April, irregularities in two districts led the

Commissioner of Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

to hold re-polls on 20 April. Final results were announced the following day, a day before the new parliament was scheduled to meet for the first time.

Background

General elections are usually held every six years in Sri Lanka, to elect 225 members to the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

. The country is divided into 22

electoral districts An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

, and each district is assigned a specific number of seats depending on the districts population, with 196 seats distributed among the districts. At the election, parties contesting in a given district are awarded a certain number of seats available from the district based on the number of votes obtained in the whole district. The remaining 29 seats are distributed amongst the contesting political parties based on the percentage of the national vote received by each party. The previous parliamentary election was held on April 2, 2004. The newly formed UPFA alliance became the largest group in Parliament by winning 105 of the 225 seats, allowing it to form a minority government with the support of the sole

Eelam People's Democratic Party The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda. Background Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam ...

MP. On April 6, 2004, President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa, the leader of the UPFA, as the new

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. The rest of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

were sworn in on April 10, 2004. The new parliament was sworn in on April 22, 2004. Since then a number of defections and counter-defections from the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

have increased the number of government MPs to 129, most of whom have been rewarded with ministerial posts: *9 August 2004: Three

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress ( ta, சிறீலங்கா முஸ்லீம் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Srīlaṅkā Muslīm Kāṅkiras; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රස� ...

(SLMC) MPs join UPFA. *3 September 2004: Ceylon Workers' Congress (eight MPs) joins UPFA, giving it a majority in parliament. *16 June 2005:

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anothe ...

(JVP) (39 MPs) quits UPFA. *25 January 2006: Four

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

MPs join UPFA. *28 January 2007: 18 UNP MPs and 6 SLMC MPs join UPFA. *30 January 2007:

Jathika Hela Urumaya The Jathika Hela Urumaya ( si, ජාතික හෙළ උරුමය, ta, ஈழ மக்கள் கழகம், often approximated in English as National Heritage Party) is a nationalist political party in Sri Lanka. The JHU was launched ...

(eight MPs) joins UPFA. *12 December 2007: Four SLMC MPs quit the UPFA. *28 December 2008: 12 MPs, who had left the JVP in May 2008 to form the

National Freedom Front The Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) or ''National Freedom Front'' (NFF) is a political party in Sri Lanka was formed by the ten JVP parliamentarians led by Wimal Weerawansa, the breakaway group of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP, started their po ...

, join the UPFA. This has allowed the UPFA form a stable government for six years. Following the expiration of the second term of President Kumaratunge, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse defeated the leader of the United National Party and former Prime Minister

Ranil Wickremasinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

in the 2005 Presidential election. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by

Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Ratnasiri Wickremanayake ( si, රත්නසිරි වික්‍රමනායක, ta, ரத்னசிறி விக்கிரமநாயக்க; 5 May 1933 – 27 December 2016) was a Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Mi ...

. Under Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan military defeated the militant

group in May 2009, ending the 30 year Sri Lankan Civil War and significantly increasing Rajapaksa's popularity in the country. Rajapaksa rode this wave of popularity to win the 2010 Presidential election, defeating opposition candidate

by a large margin.

Details

With the term of the 13th Parliament (also known as the 6th Parliament) scheduled to end in April 2010, Rajapaksa dissolved parliament on February 9, 2010, paving the way for fresh elections. Nominations took place between February 19 and February 26, and the date of the election was set for April 8, 2010. 14,088,500 Sri Lankans were eligible to vote in the election, for which 11,102 polling stations were set up. Of this, 415,432 people were eligible to cast their vote via postal voting. Final votes were counted at 1,387 counting centers around the country. Since the 2004 election, there were four changes to number of seats allocated to each electoral district.

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

and

Gampaha Gampaha (Sinhala: ගම්පහ ; Tamil: கம்பஹா ) is an urban city in Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated to the north-east of the capital Colombo. It is the sixth largest urban area in Western Province ...

gained one seat each while

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

and

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

lost a seat each.

Contesting parties

All the constituent parties of the ruling UPFA contested under its banner. The parliamentary opposition parties (UNF,

(JVP) and (TNA), who had come together to support common opposition candidate

at the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

, were unable to form a common alliance to contest in the election. Therefore, the UNF and the TNA contested alone, while Fonseka and the JVP allied to form a new alliance called the Democratic National Alliance (DNA). Fonseka was the DNA's chief candidate in Colombo district. The UPFA, UNF and DNA contested in all 22 electoral districts while the TNA contested in the 5 districts in the north and east. The UNF contested under the name and symbol of the

, as it had done in the previous two parliamentary elections. The TNA contested under the name and symbol of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, as it did in the last parliamentary election. A record 7,680 candidates contested for the 196 district seats.

Violence and violations of election laws

Sri Lankan elections have a history of violence, misuse of state resources, and other violations of election laws. 274 incidents had been reported to the police up to 5 April. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) recorded 413 incidents up to 7 April. The CMEV has stated that it is impossible to say if the election had been "free and fair". People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) recorded 270 incidents up to 7 April. The Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) has stated that the election was not free and fair. CaFFE condemned the police and election commissioner for not enforcing electoral law. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) also recorded a number of violations. A significant feature of the violence was intra-party clashes between UPFA candidates. On the day of the election, there were a number of elections violations reported around the country. The violations in the Nawalapitiya electorate of the Kandy District were serious enough for the Elections Commissioner to nullify the voting in some areas of the electorate and order a re-poll. Results from the Trincomalee District were also suspended as some ballot papers had been stolen. Re-polling for the effected polling areas took place on April 20.Elections to the National Assembly
Sri Lanka government election website

Results

By district

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" rowspan="3" , District ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" rowspan="3" , Province ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="3" ,

UPFA The United People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக� ...

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="3" , UNF ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNA ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="3" , TNA ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Others ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" rowspan="3" , Total seats ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" rowspan="3" , Turnout , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , +/- ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , +/- ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , +/- ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , +/- ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats , - !style="background-color:" colspan="3", !style="background-color:" colspan="3", !style="background-color:" colspan="3", !style="background-color:" colspan="3", !style="background-color:gray" , , - , style="text-align: left" ,

, style="text-align: left" rowspan="3" , Western , 480,896 , 10 , +2 , 339,750 , 7 , −2 , 110,683 , 2 , +2 , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 19 , 65% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

, 589,476 , 12 , +3 , 266,523 , 5 , −1 , 69,747 , 1 , +1 , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 18 , 67% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Kalutara Kalutara ( si, කළුතර, ta, களுத்துறை) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south o ...

, 313,836 , 7 , +1 , 139,596 , 2 , −1 , 36,722 , 1 , +1 , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 10 , 67% , - , style="text-align: left" , Mahanuwara , style="text-align: left" rowspan="3" , Central , 339,819 , 8 , +3 , 192,798 , 4 , −2 , 23,728 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 12 , 64% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, ta, மாத்தளை, translit=Māttaḷai) is the administrative capital city of the Matale District. It is the most urbanised and populated centre in the district. Matale is also the second largest muni ...

, 131,069 , 4 , +1 , 55,737 , 1 , −1 , 7,636 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 5 , 60% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( si, නුවර එළිය ; ta, நுவரெலியா) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrativ ...

, 149,111 , 5 , +3 , 96,885 , 2 , − 2 , 3,984 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 7 , 66% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern ...

, style="text-align: left" rowspan="3" , Southern , 305,307 , 7 , +1 , 120,101 , 2 , −2 , 33,663 , 1 , +1 , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 10 , 64% , - , style="text-align: left" , Matara , 213,937 , 6 , +1 , 91,114 , 2 , −1 , 20,465 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 8 , 59% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Hambantota Hambantota ( si, හම්බන්තොට, ta, அம்பாந்தோட்டை) is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri LankaThe prominent Malays (මැලේ) most part of the population is to be partly de ...

, 174,808 , 5 , - , 83,027 , 2 , - , 19,186 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 7 , 69% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mo ...

, style="text-align: left" rowspan="2" , Northern , 47,622 , 3 , +3 , 12,624 , 1 , +1 , 201 , 0 , - , 65,119 , 5 , −3 , 0 , 9 , 23% , - , style="text-align: left" , Vanni , 37,522 , 2 , +2 , 12,783 , 1 , - , 301 , 0 , - , 41,673 , 3 , −2 , 0 , 6 , 44% , - , style="text-align: left" , Batticaloa , style="text-align: left" rowspan="3" , Eastern , 62,009 , 1 , +1 , 22,935 , 1 , +1 , 324 , 0 , - , 66,235 , 3 , −1 , 0 , 5 , 59% , - , style="text-align: left" , Digamadulla , 132,096 , 4 , +1 , 90,757 , 2 , +1 , 2,917 , 0 , - , 26,895 , 1 , - , 0 , 7 , 74% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

, 59,784 , 2 , +1 , 39,691 , 1 , +1 , 2,519 , 0 , - , 33,268 , 1 , −1 , 0 , 4 , 62% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

, style="text-align: left" rowspan="2" , North Western , 429,316 , 10 , +1 , 213,713 , 5 , −2 , 26,440 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 15 , 61% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Puttalam Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam Di ...

, 167,769 , 6 , +1 , 81,152 , 2 , −1 , 8,792 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 8 , 57% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

, style="text-align: left" rowspan="2" , North Central , 221,204 , 7 , +2 , 80,360 , 2 , −1 , 18,129 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 9 , 61% , - , style="text-align: left" , Polonnauwa , 118,694 , 4 , +1 , 45,732 , 1 , −1 , 6,457 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 5 , 66% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Badulla Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is ...

, style="text-align: left" rowspan="2" , Uva , 203,689 , 6 , +3 , 112,886 , 2 , −3 , 15,768 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 8 , 65% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Monaragala Monaragala ( si, මොනරාගල, translit=Monarāgala; ta, மொணராகலை, translit=Moṇarākalai) is a town located in Monaragala District, Uva Province, Sri Lanka. It is the largest town in Monaragala District and is locate ...

, 120,634 , 4 , +1 , 28,892 , 1 , −1 , 9,018 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 5 , 56% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Ratnapura Ratnapura (; ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located o ...

, style="text-align: left" rowspan="2" , Sabaragamuwa , 305,327 , 7 , +1 , 125,076 , 3 , −1 , 11,053 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 10 , 65% , - , style="text-align: left" ,

Kegalle Kegalle ( si, කෑගල්ල; ta, கேகாலை) is a large town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo– Kandy road, approximately from Colombo and from Kandy. It is the main town in the Kegalle Distr ...

, 242,463 , 7 , +2 , 104,925 , 2 , −2 , 13,518 , 0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" , DNC , 0 , 9 , 63% , - , style="text-align: left" colspan="2" , National List , colspan="2" , 17 , +4 , colspan="2" , 9 , −2 , colspan="2" , 2 , +2 , colspan="2" , 1 , −1 , 0 , 29 , - , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Total , 4,846,388 , 144 , +39 , 2,357,057 , 60 , −22 , 441,251 , 7 , +7 , 233,190 , 14 , −8 , 0 , 225 , 61% , - , style="background-color: #e9e9e9; text-align: left; border-right: none; font-size: smaller" colspan="17" , Source
Sri Lanka Department of Elections

Elected members

Notes

References

External links

The Parliament of Sri Lanka

{{Members of 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka April 2010 events in Asia Sri Lanka Election and referendum articles with incomplete results