Parliamentary elections were held in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

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: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

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

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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 policies.J ...

which lasted 26 years. The main parties contesting in the election were the ruling

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA; ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ) was a political alliance in Sri Lanka founded by former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2004 and dissolved by former Sri Lankan President Ma ...

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

Sri Lankan Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; t ...

Sarath Fonseka Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka (born 18 December 1950) is a Sri Lankan retired army officer. He was the eighteenth Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 2005 to 2009, and under his command the Sri Lankan Army ended the 26- ...

. President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

had previously been 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 and defeating the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

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

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

party Tamil National Alliance (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 had 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 is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

in Sri Lanka since independence. While the elections were initially scheduled to be concluded on 8 April, irregularities in two districts led the Commissioner of Elections 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 ''Śrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் '' ...

. The country is divided into 22 electoral districts, 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 A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

with the support of the sole

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

MP. On April 6, 2004, President

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, President of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. ...

appointed

, the leader of the UPFA, as the new

prime minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The rest of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

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 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 (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 The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; , PLF) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 JVP ins ...

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

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

MPs join UPFA. *28 January 2007: 18 UNP MPs and 6 SLMC MPs join UPFA. *30 January 2007: Jathika Hela Urumaya (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, 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 in the 2005 Presidential election. He was succeeded as prime minister by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake. 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 Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by Mail, post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling place, polling station or electronically via an electronic voti ...

. 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 An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...

and Gampaha gained one seat each while

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

and

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

lost a seat each.

Contesting parties

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

and Tamil National Alliance), who had come together to support common opposition candidate

at the presidential election, 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 ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="3" , UNF ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="3" ,

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

! 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" , Gampaha , 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 (, ) 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 of the capital Colombo. The city holds a unique posit ...

, 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 , 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 ( ; ) 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 administrative capital of Nuwara Eliya District, with a picturesque landsc ...

, 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 (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

, 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 , 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, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

, 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 Batticaloa (, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu'', ; , ''Maḍakalapuwa'', ) is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern Univers ...

, 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 (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

, 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 (; ) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam District and governed by a municipal council. Climate Under the ...

, 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 (, ; ,) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is located in the southeast of Kandy, almost enci ...

, 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 , 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 loca ...

, 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 , 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 in Sri Lanka

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results