 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 225 seats in theParliament of Sri Lanka 113 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnout | 76.24% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Winners of polling divisions. PA inblue and UNP ingreen. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Sri Lanka |
|---|
 |
|
|
|
Parliamentary elections were held inSri Lanka on 16 August 1994. They marked the decisive end of seventeen years ofUnited National Party rule and a revival of Sri Lankan democracy.
Democracy in Sri Lanka had seemed doomed as the presidencies ofJ.R. Jayewardene andRanasinghe Premadasa arbitrarily banned opposition parties, severely muzzled the media, and routinely used death squads, torture, and kidnappings in the two civil conflicts against theLTTE andJVP. The UNP had simply cancelled the 1983 parliamentary elections; its control of the media led it to victory in the1988 and1989 elections.
The population was increasingly tired of war and repression, worn out withjingoisticSinhalesenationalism, and wanted a return to freedom, peace, and democracy.Chandrika Kumaratunga, leader of theSri Lanka Freedom Party, formed a coalition with small leftist parties called thePeople's Alliance. This was in some ways a revival of hermother'scoalition from the 1970s, but this time campaigning for rapprochement with theTamils rather than their marginalization.
The PA did not win a majority, but was able to govern with the support of the smaller parties.
 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
| District | National | Total | ||||||
| People's Alliance[b] | 3,887,823 | 48.94 | 91 | 14 | 105 | |||
| United National Party[c] | 3,498,370 | 44.04 | 81 | 13 | 94 | |||
| Sri Lanka Muslim Congress | 143,307 | 1.80 | 6 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Tamil United Liberation Front | 132,461 | 1.67 | 4 | 1 | 5 | |||
| Sri Lanka Progressive Front[d] | 90,078 | 1.13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Mahajana Eksath Peramuna | 68,538 | 0.86 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| EROS–PLOTE–TELO[e] | 38,028 | 0.48 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |||
| Up-Country People's Front[f] | 27,374 | 0.34 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Eelam People's Democratic Party[g] | 10,744 | 0.14 | 9 | 0 | 9 | |||
| Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front | 9,411 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Nava Sama Samaja Party | 2,094 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Bahujana Nidahas Peramuna | 813 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Democratic Workers Congress | 589 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya | 267 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Independents | 33,809 | 0.43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 7,943,706 | 100.00 | 196 | 29 | 225 | |||
| Valid votes | 7,943,706 | 95.20 | ||||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 400,389 | 4.80 | ||||||
| Total votes | 8,344,095 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 10,945,065 | 76.24 | ||||||
| Source:Electoral Commission | ||||||||
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.
| Presidential | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary | |
| Provincial | |
| Local | |
| Referendums | |
