Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 December 2001, just a little over a year after the previous 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. Overall, 60 people were killed in election-related violence, including 14 on polling day.
Parties
- Democratic People's Liberation Front (DFLP)
- Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP)
- People's Alliance (Bahejana Nidasa Pakhsaya, BNP), which consisted of:
- Communist Party of Sri Lanka
- Democratic United National Front
- 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)
- Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People's Liberation Front, JVP)
- Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
- Tamil United Liberation Front (Tamil Vimuktasi Peramuna, TVP)
- United National Front, which consisted of:
- United National Party (Eksath Jathika Pakshaya, UNP)
- Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC)
Results
The ruling People's Alliance lost the election, which saw the United National Front win the legislative power. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe became the new prime minister.
Having the President and Prime Minister belong to two 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
- "Parliamentary General Election 2001 – All Island Result Composition of Parliament". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2010-08-26.
- "Parliamentary General Election 2001 – All Island Result". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2009-01-07.
- "Parliamentary General Election 2001 – Final District Results". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2009-01-07.
- "General Election 2001 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-03-04.
- "2001 General Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 12 July 2023.
- "Table 42 Parliament Election (Party) (2001)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
- "Table 42a Parliament Election (Electoral District) (2001)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
- "Table 42b Parliament Election (Elected Members) (2001)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
- "Table 42c Parliamentary General Election (Electoral District) (2001)". Sri Lanka Statistics. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
- "Sri Lanka Parliamentary Chamber: Parliament Elections Held in 2001". Inter-Parliamentary Union.
- "2001 - Parliamentary General Election". Manthree.com.
- "DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS OF 6 DECEMBER 2001". Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive.
- "DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS OF 6 DECEMBER 2001". Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive.
