The 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

, with the membership determined by the results of the 2001 parliamentary election held on 5 December 2001. The parliament met for the first time on 19 December 2001 and was dissolved prematurely on 7 February 2004.

Election

The 12th parliamentary election was held on 5 December 2001. The United National Front (UNF), a newly formed opposition alliance, became the largest group in Parliament by winning 109 of the 225 seats. The incumbent People's Alliance (PA) won 77 seats. The

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 ...

(JVP) won 16 seats and the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lank ...

(TNA), a new alliance of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

parties, won 15 seats. Smaller parties won the remaining 8 seats.

Results

The new parliament was sworn in on 19 December 2001. M. Joseph Michael Perera was elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

unopposed. The post of Deputy Speaker was left vacant after the PA refused to nominate anyone. Siri Andrahennady was elected Deputy Chairman of Committees unopposed.

Government

The UNF was able to form a government with the support of the five SLMC MPs elected under their party's name (the SLMC contested under its name in three districts and with the UNF in all other districts). On 9 December 2001, President

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

appointed Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the UNF, as 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 is ...

. The rest of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

, comprising 24 Ministers, 28 Project Ministers and 8 Deputy Ministers, were sworn in on 12 December 2001. The 12th parliament saw the only significant period of

co-habitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increa ...

in Sri Lanka since the executive presidency was introduced in 1978. There were numerous disputes between President Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe, particularly over the handling of the peace process with the rebel Tamil Tigers. The political tension came to a head in early November 2003 when, as Prime Minister Wickremasinghe was out of the country, President Kumaratunga

prorogued A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two election ...

parliament, declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

, sent troops into the streets of the capital and took control of three important ministries (

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

, interior and media). On 20 January 2004 the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

, President Kumaratunga's party and the main constituent of the opposition People's Alliance, and the

formed a new political alliance called the

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance ( abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக ...

(UPFA). A few days later on 7 February 2004 the president dissolved parliament, nearly four years ahead of schedule and despite the government having the support of the majority of parliament.

Changes in party/alliance affiliations

Deaths and resignations

The 12th parliament saw the following deaths and resignations: *5 June 2002:

Murugesu Sivasithamparam Murugesu Sivasithamparam (20 July 1923 – 5 June 2002) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker. Early life Sivasithamparam was born 20 July 1923 in Karaveddy in northern province of Ceylon. He wa ...

(TNA-NAT) died. His replacement was Kathirgamathamby Thurairetnasingam (TNA-NAT).

Members

References

; General * * * ; Specific {{Parliaments of Sri Lanka Parliament of Sri Lanka 2001 Sri Lankan parliamentary election