5 December 2001 2004 → 1994 1994 109 77 Start date December 5, 2001 | Turnout 76.03% 89 Seats, 40.22% 107 Seats, 45.11% 4,086,026 3,330,815 | |
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Winner Ranil Wickremesinghe | ||
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on December 5, 2001, just a little over a year after the last elections in October 2000.
Contents
Background
The People's Alliance (PA) government faced a blow when most of the SLMC MPs left the coalition. President Chandrika Kumaratunga tried to recruit the JVP to replace it, but this angered several PA MPs, thirteen of which defected to the opposition. A no-confidence motion was prepared; to forestall this, Kumaratunga called the election.
More than 1,300 incidents of election violence were reported during the campaign. [1]. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was nearly killed by a suicide bomber. Overall, 60 people were killed in election-related violence, including 14 on polling day. [2]
Parties
Results
Kumaratunga's People's Alliance lost the resulting general election, which saw the United National Front win the legislative power. The UNP's leader, Ranil Wickremasinghe, became the new prime minister.
Having a President and Prime Minister from different parties proved to be unstable, and Parliament was dissolved again in 2004, leading to yet another general election.
Province
Results of the 2001 Sri Lankan general election by province
Electoral District
Results of the 2001 Sri Lankan general election by electoral district