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.
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 jingoisticSinhalesenationalism, 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.
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.
1994, lankan, parliamentary, election, parliamentary, elections, were, held, lanka, august, 1994, they, marked, decisive, seventeen, years, united, national, party, rule, revival, lankan, democracy, 1989, august, 1994, 2000, outgoing, memberselected, members, . 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 1989 16 August 1994 2000 outgoing memberselected members All 225 seats in the Parliament of Sri Lanka 113 seats were needed for a majorityTurnout76 24 First party Second party Leader Chandrika Kumaratunga D B WijetungaParty People s Alliance UNPLeader since 1994 1993Leader s seat Gampaha District n aLast election 31 8 67 seats a 50 7 125 seatsSeats won 105 94Seat change 38 31Popular vote 3 887 823 3 498 370Percentage 48 94 44 04 Winners of polling divisions PA in blue and UNP in green Prime Minister before electionRanil WickremasingheUNP Prime Minister designate Chandrika KumaratungaPeople s Alliance Contents 1 Background 2 Results 2 1 By province 2 2 By electoral district 2 3 Elected members 3 Legacy 4 Notes 5 ReferencesBackground EditDemocracy 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 EditThe PA did not win a majority but was able to govern with the support of the smaller parties PartyVotes SeatsDistrictNationalTotalPeople s Alliance b 3 887 82348 949114105United National Party c 3 498 37044 04811394Sri Lanka Muslim Congress143 3071 80617Tamil United Liberation Front132 4611 67415Sri Lanka Progressive Front d 90 0781 13101Mahajana Eksath Peramuna68 5380 86000EROS PLOTE TELO e 38 0280 48303Up Country People s Front f 27 3740 34101Eelam People s Democratic Party g 10 7440 14909Eelam People s Revolutionary Liberation Front9 4110 12000Nava Sama Samaja Party2 0940 03000Bahujana Nidahas Peramuna8130 01000Democratic Workers Congress5890 01000Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya2670 00000Independents33 8090 43000Total7 943 706100 0019629225Valid votes7 943 70695 20Invalid blank votes400 3894 80Total votes8 344 095100 00Registered voters turnout10 945 06576 24Source Electoral CommissionBy province Edit Further information Results of the 1994 Sri Lankan general election by province By electoral district Edit Further information Results of the 1994 Sri Lankan general election by electoral district Elected members Edit Further information 10th Sri Lankan ParliamentLegacy EditThe 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 Edit As Sri Lanka Freedom Party 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 Including the Ceylon Workers Congress Including the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 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 Contested as an independent group in Nuwara Eliya District Contested as an independent group in Jaffna District References Edit 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 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1994 Sri Lankan parliamentary election amp oldid 1162069309, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,