Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 1994

10th Sri Lankan parliamentary election

16 August 1994
All 225 seats to the Parliament of Sri Lanka 113 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	76.24%
First party Second party   Leader Chandrika Kumaratunga D. B. Wijetunga Party People's Alliance United National Party Leader since 1994 1993 Leader's seat Gampaha District n/a Last election 67 Seats, 31.8% 125 Seats, 50.7% Seats won 105 94 Seat change 38 31 Popular vote 3,887,823 3,498,370 Percentage 48.94% 44.04%
250px Winners of polling divisions. PA in blue and UNP in green.
Prime Minister before election Ranil Wickremasinghe United National Party Prime Minister-designate Chandrika Kumaratunga People's Alliance

The Sri Lankan parliamentary election of 1994 marked the decisive end of 17 years of UNP rule and a revival of Sri Lankan democracy.

Background

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 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 leftists 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.

Summary

 Summary of the 1994 Sri Lankan parliamentary election

Alliances and parties		Votes	%	Seats
				District	National	Total
	People's Alliance Communist Party of Sri Lanka Desha Vimukthi Janatha Party Lanka Sama Samaja Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya	3,887,823	48.94%	91	14	105
	United National Party Ceylon Workers' Congress United National Party	3,498,370	44.04%	81	13	94
	Eelam People's Democratic Party	10,744	0.14%	9	0	9
	Sri Lanka Muslim Congress	143,307	1.80%	6	1	7
	Tamil United Liberation Front	132,461	1.67%	4	1	5
	Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students / People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam / Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization	38,028	0.48%	3	0	3
	Sri Lanka Progressive Front Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna	90,078	1.13%	1	0	1
	Up-Country People's Front	27,374	0.34%	1	0	1
	Mahajana Eksath Peramuna	68,538	0.86%	0	0	0
	Independents	33,809	0.43%	0	0	0
	Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front	9,411	0.12%	0	0	0
	Nava Sama Samaja Party	2,094	0.03%	0	0	0
	People's Freedom Front	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
Valid Votes		7,943,706	100.00%	196	29	225
Rejected Votes		400,389
Total Polled		8,344,095
Registered Electors		10,945,065
Turnout		76.24%

Province

Further information: Results of the 1994 Sri Lankan general election by province

Electoral District

Further information: Results of the 1994 Sri Lankan general election by electoral district

Elected members

Further information: 10th Sri Lankan Parliament

Legacy

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, remains as powerful as ever.