Parliamentary elections were held in
Sri Lanka on 5 December 2001, just a little over a year after the
last elections in October 2000.
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.
Prime Minister
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was nearly killed by a
suicide bomber
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
. Overall, 60 people were killed in election-related violence, including 14 on polling day.
Parties
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Democratic People's Liberation Front
Democratic People's Liberation Front−DPLF (), a registered political party in Sri Lanka and a front of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).
History
DPLF was established in 1987. While People's Liberation Organisation of ...
(DFLP)
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Eelam People's Democratic Party
The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.
Background
Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam ...
(EPDP)
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People's Alliance (Bahejana Nidasa Pakhsaya, BNP), which consisted of:
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Communist Party of Sri Lanka
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Democratic United National Front
The Democratic United National Front ( si, ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී එක්සත් ජාතික පෙරමුණ, pronounced ''Prajathanthrvadi Eksath Jathika Peramuna'', ta, ஜனநாயக ஐக்க� ...
**
Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Sri Lanka Equal Society Party, LSSP)
**
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Sri Lanka Nidahas Pakshaya, SLNP)
**
Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (Sri Lanka People's Party, SLMP)
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Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anothe ...
(People's Liberation Front, JVP)
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Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress ( ta, சிறீலங்கா முஸ்லீம் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Srīlaṅkā Muslīm Kāṅkiras; si, ශ්රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්රස� ...
*
Tamil United Liberation Front
The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප� ...
(Tamil Vimuktasi Peramuna, TVP)
*
United National Front, which consisted of:
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United National Party
The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...
(Eksath Jathika Pakshaya, UNP)
**
Ceylon Workers Congress
The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) ( ta, இலங்கை தொழிலாளர் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Ilaṅkai Toḻilāḷar Kāṅkiras; si, ලංකා කම්කරු කොංග්රසය ''Lanka Kamkaru ...
(CWC)
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
Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...
, became the new
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
.
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.
By province
By electoral district
Elected members
Notes
References
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{{Sri Lankan elections
Parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka