List of parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka

Parliamentary elections have been held in Sri Lanka since the first in 1947, under three different constitutions: the Soulbury Constitution, the 1972 Constitution, and the currently enforced 1978 Constitution. Sixteen parliamentary elections have been held up to and including the 2020 election. The seventeenth is scheduled for 14 November 2024. ^[1]

The current Parliament of Sri Lanka has 225 members elected for a five-year term. 196 members are elected from 22 multi-seat constituencies through an open list proportional representation with a 5% electoral threshold; voters can rank up to three candidates on the party list they vote for. The other 29 seats are elected from a national list, with list members appointed by party secretaries and seats allocated according to the island-wide proportional vote the party obtains. ^[2]

Every proclamation dissolving parliament must be published in The Sri Lanka Gazette and must specify the nomination period and the date of the election. The first meeting of the new parliament must occur within three months of the previous parliament's dissolution. ^[3]

History

In 1833 the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission created the Legislative Council of Ceylon, the first step in representative government in British Ceylon. Initially this council consisted of 16 members which included the British Governor, the 5 appointed members of the Executive Council of Ceylon, 4 other government officials, and 6 appointed unofficial members. In 1889 the number of appointed unofficial members was increased to 8. ^[4]

Legislative Council elections: 1911–1924

Main article: Legislative Council of Ceylon

Election year	Legislative Council	Total seats	Description
1911 [a]	1st	21	11 official and 10 non-official members. Of the non-official members, 6 were appointed by the governor and the remaining 4 were elected.
1917	2nd
1921 [b]	3rd	37	14 official and 23 unofficial members. Of the non-official members, 4 were appointed by the governor and the remaining 19 were elected.
1924 [c]	4th	49	12 official and 37 unofficial members. Of the non-official members, 8 were appointed by the governor and the remaining 29 were elected.

State Council elections: 1931–1936

Main article: State Council of Ceylon

Duration

Dates of nomination, election, dissolution and duration of State Councils ^[5]

State Council	Date of				Duration
	Nomination	Election	First meeting	Dissolved
1st	4 May 1931	13–20 June 1931 [d]	6 July 1931	7 December 1935	4 years, 5 months and 1 day
2nd	15 January 1936	22 February – 7 March 1936 [e]	16 March 1936	4 July 1947	11 years, 3 months and 18 days

Elections

Election year	State Council	Total seats	Description
1931	1st	58	The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. It introduced universal adult franchise to the colony for the first time, replacing the Legislative Council of Ceylon, the original legislative body.
1936	2nd

Parliamentary elections: 1947–2024

Main articles: Parliament of Ceylon, National State Assembly, and Parliament of Sri Lanka

See also: List of parliaments of Sri Lanka

Duration

Dates of nomination, election, dissolution and duration of Parliaments ^[5]

Name	Date of				Duration
	Nomination	Election	First meeting	Dissolved
1st	26 July 1947	23 August – 20 September 1947 [f]	14 October 1947	8 April 1952	4 years, 5 months and 25 days
2nd	28 April 1952	24–30 May 1952 [g]	9 June 1952	18 February 1956	3 years, 8 months and 9 days
3rd	8 March 1956	5–10 April 1956 [h]	19 April 1956	5 December 1959	3 years, 7 months and 16 days
4th	4 January 1960	19 March 1960	30 March 1960	23 April 1960	24 days
5th	20 May 1960	20 July 1960	5 August 1960	17 December 1964	4 years, 4 months and 12 days
6th	11 January 1965	22 March 1965	5 April 1965	25 March 1970	4 years, 11 months and 20 days
7th	23 April 1970	27 May 1970	7 June 1970	—	1 year, 11 months and 15 days
With the promulgation of the 1972 Constitution on 22 May 1972, the 1st National State Assembly superseded the 7th Parliament of Ceylon.
1st	—	—	22 May 1972	18 May 1977	4 years, 11 months and 26 days
2nd	6 June 1977	21 July 1977	4 August 1977	—	1 year, 1 month and 3 days
With the promulgation of the 1978 Constitution on 7 September 1978, the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka (1st Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka) superseded the 2nd National State Assembly.
The 1982 referendum on extending the parliamentary term by six years was held in Sri Lanka on 22 December 1982. Through the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, the term of the 8th Parliament was extended until 4 August 1989.
8th	—	—	7 September 1978	20 December 1988	10 years, 3 months and 13 days
9th	6 January 1989	15 February 1989	9 March 1989	24 June 1994	5 years, 3 months and 15 days
10th	11 July 1994	16 August 1994	25 August 1994	18 August 2000	5 years, 11 months and 24 days
11th	28 August – 4 September 2000	10 October 2000	18 October 2000	10 October 2001	11 months and 22 days
12th	20–27 October 2001	5 December 2001	19 December 2001	7 February 2004	2 years, 1 month and 19 days
13th	17–24 February 2004	2 April 2004	22 April 2004	9 February 2010	5 years, 9 months and 18 days
14th	19–26 February 2010	8 and 20 April 2010	22 April 2010	26 June 2015	5 years, 2 months and 4 days
15th	6–13 July 2015	17 August 2015	1 September 2015	2 March 2020	4 years, 6 months and 1 day
16th	12–19 March 2020	5 August 2020	20 August 2020	24 September 2024	4 years, 1 month and 4 days
17th	4–11 October 2024	14 November 2024	21 November 2024	Incumbent	2 months and 21 days

Elections

Elections, seats and Prime Ministers ^[6]

Election	Parliament	Total seats	Turnout	Largest party		Seats won	Seat majority	Seat percentage	Prime Minister(s)	Ref.
1947	1st	95	55.81%		United National Party	42	-6	44.21%	D. S. Senanayake (1947–1952) [i] Dudley Senanayake (1952)	[7] [8]
1952	2nd		70.7%		United National Party	54	+6	56.84%	Dudley Senanayake (1952–1953) [j] Sir John Kotelawala (1953–1956)	[9] [10]
1956	3rd		69.04%		Mahajana Eksath Peramuna	51	+3	53.68%	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike (1956–1959) [i] Wijeyananda Dahanayake (1959–1960)	[11] [12]
1960 (March)	4th	151	77.6%		United National Party	50	-26	33.11%	Dudley Senanayake	[13] [14]
1960 (July)	5th		75.9%		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	75	-1	49.67%	Sirimavo Bandaranaike	[15] [16]
1965	6th		81.13%		United National Party	66	-10	43.71%	Dudley Senanayake	[17] [18]
1970	7th		85.2%		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	91	+15	60.26%	Sirimavo Bandaranaike	[19] [20]
1977 [k]	8th	168	86.7%		United National Party	140	+55	83.33%	J. R. Jayewardene (1977–1978) [l] Ranasinghe Premadasa (1978–1989) [m]	[21] [22]
1989 [n]	9th	225	63.6%		United National Party	125	+12	55.56%	Dingiri Banda Wijetunga (1989–1993) [o] Ranil Wickremesinghe (1993–1994)	[23]
1994	10th		76.24%		People's Alliance	105	-8	46.67%	Chandrika Kumaratunga (1994) [p] Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1994–2000) [j] Ratnasiri Wickremanayake (2000)	[24]
2000	11th		75.63%		People's Alliance	107	-6	47.56%	Ratnasiri Wickremanayake	[25] [26]
2001	12th		76.03%		United National Front	96	-17	42.67%	Ranil Wickremesinghe	[27] [28]
2004	13th		75.96%		United People's Freedom Alliance	105	-8	46.67%	Mahinda Rajapaksa (2004–2005) [q] Ratnasiri Wickremanayake (2005–2010)	[29] [30]
2010	14th		61.26%		United People's Freedom Alliance	144	+31	64%	D. M. Jayaratne (2010–2015) [j] Ranil Wickremesinghe (2015) [r]	[31]
2015	15th		77.66%		United National Front	106	-7	47.11%	Ranil Wickremesinghe (2015–2018) [s] Mahinda Rajapaksa (2018) [t] Ranil Wickremesinghe (2018–2019) [u] [j] Mahinda Rajapaksa (2019–2020) [v]	[32]
2020	16th		75.89%		Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance	145	+32	64.44%	Mahinda Rajapaksa (2020–2022) [j] Ranil Wickremesinghe (2022) [w] [x] Dinesh Gunawardena (2022–2024) [y] [j] Harini Amarasuriya (2024) [z]	[33]
2024	17th		68.93%		National People's Power	159	+46	70.67%	Harini Amarasuriya (2024–present)	[34]

Notes

1. McCallum Reforms of 1910
2. First Manning Reforms of 1920
3. Second Manning Reforms of 1923
4. 13 and 15–20 June 1931
5. 22, 24–29 February, 2–3, 5, and 7 March 1936
6. 23, 25–30 August, 1, 4, 6, 8–11, 13, 15–18 and 20 September 1947
7. 24, 26, 28 and 30 May 1952
8. 5, 7, and 10 April 1956
9. Died in office.
10. Resigned.
11. The election was delayed until 1977 using the 1972 Constitution, instead of holding it by 1975 as required under the old Soulbury Constitution.
12. Appointed as the 1st Executive President of Sri Lanka through a constitutional amendment on 4 February 1978.
13. Elected as president on 19 December 1988 and was sworn in on 2 January 1989.
14. The 1989 parliamentary election was the first since 1977, as the election due by 1983 had been cancelled by the 1982 referendum.
15. Elected unanimously by the parliament as president to complete the remainder of Ranasinghe Premadasa's term and was sworn in on 7 May 1993.
16. Elected as president on 9 November 1994 and was sworn in on 12 November 1994.
17. Elected as president on 17 November 2005 and was sworn in on 19 November 2005.
18. Appointed as prime minister by President Maithripala Sirisena on 9 January 2015 following his victory in the 2015 presidential election.
19. Dismissed from office by President Maithripala Sirisena on 26 October 2018.
20. Appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena as prime minister on 26 October 2018. After failing to secure a vote of majority support in the House, Rajapaksa's duties were suspended by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Subsequently resigned from office on 15 December 2018.
21. Restored as prime minister after the 2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis on 16 December 2018.
22. Appointed as prime minister by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 21 November 2019 following his victory in the 2019 presidential election.
23. Appointed as prime minister by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 12 May 2022.
24. Elected by the parliament as president on 20 July 2022 and was sworn in on 21 July 2022.
25. Appointed as prime minister by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on 22 July 2022.
26. Appointed as prime minister by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on 24 September 2024 following his victory in the 2024 presidential election.

References

1. "Our History". Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2024. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
2. "The Electoral System". The Parliament of Sri Lanka. 14 December 2012. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
3. "The Constitution of the D. S. R. of Sri Lanka" (PDF). The Parliament of Sri Lanka. 30 March 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
4. De Silva, Kingsley M. (2005). A History of Sri Lanka. Penguin Books India. ISBN   978-955-8095-92-8.
5. "Duration of Parliament". Parliament of Sri Lanka. 25 September 2024. Archived from the original on 28 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
6. "Parliamentary Election Results". Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 23 September 2024. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
7. "Results of Parliamentary General Election – 1947" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
8. "1947 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
9. "Results of Parliamentary General Election – 1952" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
10. "1952 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
11. "Results of Parliamentary General Election – 1956" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
12. "1956 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
13. "Results of Parliamentary General Election – 19/03/1960" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
14. "1960 March General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
15. "Results of Parliamentary General Election – 20/07/1960" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
16. "1960 July General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
17. "Results of Parliamentary General Election – 22/03/1965" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
18. "1965 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
19. "Results of Parliamentary General Election – May 27, 1970" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
20. "1970 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
21. "Parliamentary Election – 1977" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
22. "1977 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
23. "Parliamentary General Election – 1989" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
24. "Parliamentary General Election – 1994" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
25. "Parliamentary Elections 2000" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
26. "2000 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
27. "Parliamentary Elections 2001" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
28. "2001 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
29. "Parliamentary General Election 2004" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
30. "2004 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
31. "Parliamentary General Election 2010" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
32. "Parliamentary Elections 2015" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
33. "Parliament Election 2020 – Votes, Seats and National List Seats by Party – All Island" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 7 August 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 July 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
34. • 2024 Sri Lankan parliamentary election results:
    • "Parliamentary Election 2024/11/14 – All-island Result" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 15 November 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 November 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
    • "Parliamentary Election 2024 Results". Election Commission of Sri Lanka. 15 November 2024. Archived from the original on 20 November 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
    • "All-island final results of 2024 General Election released". Ada Derana. 15 November 2024. Archived from the original on 15 November 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2024.

External links

• Election Commission of Sri Lanka official website