Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2010
Encyclopedia
The 2010 Sri Lankan parliamentary election was held on April 8 and April 20, 2010, to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka
's 14th Parliament
. 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 30 year long civil war
.
The main parties contesting in the election were the party of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse, the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance
(UPFA), the main opposition United National Front (UNF) and the Democratic National Alliance
(DNA) of Sarath Fonseka
. 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
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 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 saw the lowest voter turnout
since independence.
While the election was initially scheduled to be concluded on April 8, irregularities in two districts led the Commissioner of Elections to hold re-polls on April 20. Final results were announced on the 21st, a day before the new parliament is scheduled to meet for the very first time.
. 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
with the support of the sole Eelam People's Democratic Party
MP
. On April 6, 2004, President Chandrika Kumaratunga
appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa
, the leader of the UPFA, as the new Prime Minister
. The rest of the government
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:
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 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
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 Sarath Fonseka
by a large margin.
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
and Gampaha
gained one seat each while Colombo
and Kurunegala
lost a seat each.
(JVP) and (TNA), who had come together to support common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka
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 United National Party
, 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.
A significant feature of the violence was the 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.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
's 14th Parliament
Parliament of Sri Lanka
The Parliament of Sri Lanka is the 225-member unicameral legislature of Sri Lanka. The members of Parliament are elected by proportional representation for six-year terms, with universal suffrage. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws...
. 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 30 year long civil war
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
.
The main parties contesting in the election were the party of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse, the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance
United People's Freedom Alliance
The United People's Freedom Alliance is a political alliance in Sri Lanka. The current leader of the United People's Freedom Alliance is Mahinda Rajapaksa and Susil Premajayantha is the general secretary of UPFA.The alliance was formed by:...
(UPFA), the main opposition United National Front (UNF) and the Democratic National Alliance
Democratic National Alliance (Sri Lanka)
The Democratic National Alliance is a political alliance in Sri Lanka, formed by retired General Sarath Fonseka and his allies to contest in the 2010 general elections...
(DNA) of Sarath Fonseka
Sarath Fonseka
Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka, known as Sarath Fonseka is a former commander and General of the Sri Lanka Army and a former candidate for President of Sri Lanka. As Commander of the Army, he played an instrumental role in ending the 26 year Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009, defeating the...
. President Rajapakse was previously reelected
Sri Lankan presidential election, 2010
The Sri Lankan presidential election of 2010 was the sixth presidential election of Sri Lanka. The election was announced on 23 November 2009 when incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to seek a fresh mandate prior to the expiration of his term in 2011...
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
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
by defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
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 party Tamil National Alliance
Tamil National Alliance
The Tamil National Alliance is a powerful minority Sri Lankan Tamil political alliance in Sri Lanka. It was formed as an amalgamation of moderate Tamil parties as well as number of former rebel groups...
(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
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
since independence.
While the election was initially scheduled to be concluded on April 8, irregularities in two districts led the Commissioner of Elections to hold re-polls on April 20. Final results were announced on the 21st, a day before the new parliament is scheduled to meet for the very first time.
Background
General elections are usually held every six years in Sri Lanka, to elect 225 members to the Parliament of Sri LankaParliament of Sri Lanka
The Parliament of Sri Lanka is the 225-member unicameral legislature of Sri Lanka. The members of Parliament are elected by proportional representation for six-year terms, with universal suffrage. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws...
. The country is divided into 22 electoral districts
Electoral districts in Sri Lanka
The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka provides for the election of members of Parliament from 22 multi-member electoral districts through the proportional representation electoral system....
, 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
Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2004
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 2 April 2004. The ruling United National Party of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was defeated, winning only eighty two seats in the 225-member Sri Lankan parliament. The opposition United People's Freedom Alliance won 105 seats...
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
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
with the support of the sole Eelam People's Democratic Party
Eelam People's Democratic Party
The Eelam People's Democratic Party is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.-Background:...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. On April 6, 2004, President Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga born June 29, 1945) was the 4th Executive president of Sri Lanka, serving from November 12, 1994 to November 19, 2005. The daughter of two former Prime Ministers, she was also the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party until end of 2005...
appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Percy Mahendra "Mahinda" Rajapaksa ; ; born November 18, 1945) is the 6th and current President of Sri Lanka and Commander in Chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. A lawyer by profession, Rajapaksa was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970, and served as prime minister from April 6,...
, the leader of the UPFA, as the new Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is the functional head of the Cabinet of Sri Lanka. However, the President is both head of state and head of government in Sri Lanka...
. The rest of the government
Cabinet of Sri Lanka
The Cabinet of Sri Lanka is the council of cabinet ministers , responsible to parliament. Cabinet ministers are appointed by the President under the advice of the Prime Minister and serve at his pleasure. Officially the prime minister is the head of the cabinet, but the cabinet is chaired by the...
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 (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
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 CongressSri Lanka Muslim CongressThe Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is a political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formed at a meeting held at Kattankudy in 1981 by a small study group of local Eastern Province political leaders....
(SLMC) MPs join UPFA. - 3 September 2004: Ceylon Workers' CongressCeylon Workers' CongressThe Ceylon Workers' Congress is a political party in Sri Lanka that has traditionally represented Tamils working in the plantation sector of the economy .- History :...
(eight MPs) joins UPFA, giving it a majority in parliament. - 16 June 2005: Janatha Vimukthi PeramunaJanatha Vimukthi PeramunaThe Janathā Vimukthi Peramuṇa is a Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was involved in two armed uprisings against the ruling governments in 1971 and 1987-89...
(JVP) (39 MPs) quits UPFA. - 25 January 2006: Four United National PartyUnited National PartyThe United National Party, often referred to as the UNP ), , is a political party in Sri Lanka. It currently is the main opposition party in Sri Lanka and is headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe...
MPs join UPFA. - 28 January 2007: 18 UNP MPs and 6 SLMC MPs join UPFA.
- 30 January 2007: Jathika Hela UrumayaJathika Hela UrumayaThe Jathika Hela Urumaya is a political party in Sri Lanka which is led by Buddhist monks. The JHU was launched in February, 2004 by the lay-based, secular Sinhala nationalist political party Sihala Urumaya. Founding members include Kolonnawe Sumangala Thero, Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero, Ellawela...
(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
Ranil Wickremasinghe
Ranil Shriyan Wickremesinghe , MP, is a Sri Lankan politician and current Leader of the Opposition in the Sri Lankan parliament. He was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka twice, from May 7, 1993 to August 19, 1994 and from December 9, 2001 to April 6, 2004...
in the 2005 Presidential election
Sri Lankan presidential election, 2005
The Sri Lankan presidential election of 2005 was the fifth presidential election of Sri Lanka. Nominations were accepted on 7 September 2005, and the election was held on 17 November 2005. Electoral participation was 73.73%...
. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake MP is a Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2010. He is currently a National List member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka....
. Under Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan military defeated the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
group in May 2009, ending the 30 year Sri Lankan Civil War
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
and significantly increasing Rajapaksa's popularity in the country. Rajapaksa rode this wave of popularity to win the 2010 Presidential election
Sri Lankan presidential election, 2010
The Sri Lankan presidential election of 2010 was the sixth presidential election of Sri Lanka. The election was announced on 23 November 2009 when incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to seek a fresh mandate prior to the expiration of his term in 2011...
, defeating opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka
Sarath Fonseka
Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka, known as Sarath Fonseka is a former commander and General of the Sri Lanka Army and a former candidate for President of Sri Lanka. As Commander of the Army, he played an instrumental role in ending the 26 year Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009, defeating the...
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 dissolvedDissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
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
Postal voting describes the method of voting in an election whereby ballot papers are distributed or returned by post to electors, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling station or electronically via an electronic voting system....
. 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
Electoral districts in Sri Lanka
The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka provides for the election of members of Parliament from 22 multi-member electoral districts through the proportional representation electoral system....
. Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura Electoral District
Anuradhapura electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Anuradhapura in the North Central province...
and Gampaha
Gampaha Electoral District
Gampaha electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Gampaha in the Western province...
gained one seat each while Colombo
Colombo Electoral District
Colombo electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Colombo in the Western province...
and Kurunegala
Kurunegala Electoral District
Kurunegala electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Kurunegala in the North Western province...
lost a seat each.
Contesting parties
All the constituent parties of the ruling UPFA contested under its banner. The parliamentary opposition parties (UNF, Janatha Vimukthi PeramunaJanatha Vimukthi Peramuna
The Janathā Vimukthi Peramuṇa is a Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was involved in two armed uprisings against the ruling governments in 1971 and 1987-89...
(JVP) and (TNA), who had come together to support common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka
Sarath Fonseka
Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka, known as Sarath Fonseka is a former commander and General of the Sri Lanka Army and a former candidate for President of Sri Lanka. As Commander of the Army, he played an instrumental role in ending the 26 year Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009, defeating the...
at the presidential election
Sri Lankan presidential election, 2010
The Sri Lankan presidential election of 2010 was the sixth presidential election of Sri Lanka. The election was announced on 23 November 2009 when incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to seek a fresh mandate prior to the expiration of his term in 2011...
, 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
Democratic National Alliance (Sri Lanka)
The Democratic National Alliance is a political alliance in Sri Lanka, formed by retired General Sarath Fonseka and his allies to contest in the 2010 general elections...
(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 United National Party
United National Party
The United National Party, often referred to as the UNP ), , is a political party in Sri Lanka. It currently is the main opposition party in Sri Lanka and is headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe...
, as it had done in the previous two parliamentary elections. The TNA contested under the name and symbol of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi is a Sri Lankan political party which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was originally formed in 1949 as breakaway faction of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress...
, 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 the 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.
See also
- Results of the 2010 Sri Lankan general election by electoral districtResults of the 2010 Sri Lankan general election by electoral districtResults of the 2010 Sri Lankan general election by electoral district.-Number of votes:-Percentage of votes:-Seats:...
- Results of the 2010 Sri Lankan general election by provinceResults of the 2010 Sri Lankan general election by provinceResults of the 2010 Sri Lankan general election by province.-Number of votes:-Percentage of votes:-Seats:...