Sri Lankan legislative election, 2004

Legislative elections were held in Sri Lanka on 2 April 2004. The ruling United National Party of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was defeated, winning only 82 seats in the 225-member Sri Lankan parliament. The opposition United People's Freedom Alliance won 105 seats. While this was eight seats short of an absolute majority, the Alliance was able to form a government.

Related Topics:
Sri Lanka - 2 April - 2004 - United National Party - Ranil Wickremesinghe - Sri Lankan parliament - United People's Freedom Alliance

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On 6 April President Chandrika Kumaratunga commissioned Mahinda Rajapakse, a former Labour Minister, as Prime Minister.

Related Topics:
6 April - Chandrika Kumaratunga - Mahinda Rajapakse

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The United People's Freedom Alliance was formed as an alliance between President Kumaratunga's party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. Other parties, that belongs to the People's Alliance, such as the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, the Democratic United National Front, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya, later joined UPFA.

Related Topics:
Sri Lanka Freedom Party - Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna - People's Alliance - Communist Party of Sri Lanka - Democratic United National Front - Lanka Sama Samaja Party - Mahajana Eksath Peramuna - Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya

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In the 2001 elections, People's Alliance and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna had fought separately. Then the JVP won 9.1% of the vote and 16 seats. At this election it is reported than as many as 39 JVP members won seats as Freedom Alliance candidates.

Related Topics:
2001 election - People's Alliance - Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna

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The runner-up in the election was the United National Front (UNF), the front led by the United National Party. In addition to the UNP, the UNF also had candidates from minor parties such as Ceylon Workers Congress.

Related Topics:
United National Front - United National Party - Ceylon Workers Congress

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Other parties winning seats were the Buddhist, Sinhala nationalist outfit Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the pro-LTTE alliance Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP). The Democratic Peoples Liberation Front (political wing of PLOTE) lost their parliamentary representation.

Related Topics:
Buddhist - Sinhala - Jathika Hela Urumaya - LTTE - Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi - Sri Lanka Muslim Congress - Eelam People's Democratic Party - Democratic Peoples Liberation Front - PLOTE

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Sri Lanka's Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said that despite reported cases of electoral malpractice in certain polling stations in six electoral districts, there would be no fresh elections in these areas and the results issued by the Commission were final.

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