General election in Sri Lanka 2001

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
← 20002001 general election2004 →
(Share of votes in%)
 %
50
40
30th
20th
10
0
45.62
37.19
9.10
3.88
1.17
0.81
0.56
1.67
Otherwise.
Gains and losses
compared to 2000
 % p
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
  -6
  -8th
+5.41
-7.91
+3.11
+2.66
+1.17
+0.23
-0.91
-3.76
Otherwise.
Template: election chart / maintenance / notes
Remarks:
d The Tamil National Alliance was formed from three Tamil parties a month before the election and ran under the party symbols of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). Your result is compared with that of the TULF 2000.
e The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) did not run separately in the previous election, but as part of the National Unity Alliance , a Muslim party alliance that received 2.28% of the vote.

The 2001 parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka took place on December 5, 2001. The election was an early election after President Chandrika Kumaratunga ( Sri Lanka Freedom Party , SLFP) dissolved the parliament that had only been elected the year before.

prehistory

President Chandrika Kumaratunga
Ranil Wickremesinghe , UNP opposition leader (2003)

The previous parliamentary election in October of the previous year did not result in a clear majority. The ruling People's Alliance (PA), an alliance of parties led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), of which President Kumaratunga was a member, won 107 of 225 seats in parliament. A PA-led government was then formed under Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake (SLFP). However, the government was dependent on the parliamentary support of two smaller parties, one of the Tamil Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) and the other of the Muslim National Unity Alliance , which each had four parliamentary seats. However, the parliamentary majority in the government was endangered from the start by deserters to the opposition United National Party (UNP).

A major cause of the crumbling government majority was the economic situation of Sri Lanka. Despite the heavy strain caused by the civil war , Sri Lanka had achieved economic growth averaging almost 5% annually since 1995. However, this was achieved not least with foreign aid. In the years 2001 to 2002, however, economic development weakened, which, according to economic experts , was related to various factors (rising oil prices , poor crop yields due to the weak monsoon , rising military spending, poor administration). This led to social consequences and dissatisfaction among the population.

The second main point of contention was the difficult negotiations between the government and the LTTE , which were mediated by the Norwegian government. The opposition used all means to criticize the government.

In view of the weak government despite urgent domestic political problems, President Kumaratunga took the initiative and proposed a referendum on August 21, 2001. the referendum was supposed to ask voters whether they thought a new constitution was necessary. The constitutional amendment should contain various points, on the one hand a change in the electoral law (e.g. in the sense of a majority vote ) in order to guarantee more stable parliamentary majorities in the future, the constitutional regulation of the ethnic conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese and the abolition of the presidential system , which is associated with of the 1978 Constitution, in favor of a parliamentary system of government.

In search of parliamentary support, the government entered into negotiations with the 10-member parliamentary group of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). The JVP set conditions for its parliamentary support, including the reduction of the number of ministerial offices in the government from 45 to 20 and the cancellation of the planned referendum. The referendum project was therefore canceled and the government downsized. As a result, representatives of the Muslim minority parties saw their clientele interests impaired and switched to the opposition camp. In the end, a petition was signed by 115 MPs calling for a vote of no confidence in the government. Thereupon President Kumaratunga dissolved the parliament on October 10, 2001, exactly one year after the election, and had new elections announced for December 5, 2001.

Procedure of the election and evaluation of the election by election observers

In the election, 3,196 candidates from 26 registered political parties and 1,414 independent candidates ran. The main opponents were two large party alliances, the People's Alliance (PA) and the United National Front (UNF). In the UNF, under the leadership of the United National Party (UNP), several parties had rallied, such as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), which was running separately in three districts, the Up Country People's Front (UCPF), the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC, like the latter, an inland Tamil party) and defectors from the SLFP. There was also the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), an alliance of Tamil parties in the Northern and Eastern Provinces , of which the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was the largest.

At the invitation of the Sri Lankan electoral authority, a 55-person EU observer mission arrived and followed the course of the election. The election campaign was marked by numerous violent clashes. More than 2,000 such incidents have been recorded. A total of 43 people were killed during the election campaign, 17 of them on election day alone. The EU observer mission came to a very critical judgment in its final report. Compared to the 2000 area code, the situation has not only not improved, but in some cases has deteriorated significantly. The reason for this is the lack of will of the two major parties (SLFP and UNP) to have a moderating effect on the electorate and to create an atmosphere "free from violence and intimidation". The EU mission positively highlighted the professional work of the Sri Lankan electoral commission and the Sri Lankan electoral commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake, who had exercised his office with the greatest integrity, unaffected by the pressure from the government and the opposition. Despite attempts at intimidation, the people of Sri Lanka used their right to vote, which is expressed in the turnout of 80%.

Election mode

The choice was made according to the mode that has been in force in Sri Lanka since 1989. 196 of the 225 members of parliament were elected in a total of 22 multi-person constituencies. A separate 5% blocking clause applied in each constituency. The voters had the opportunity to sort the candidates on the party lists according to first, second and third preference. A further 29 parliamentary seats were determined by proportional representation based on the relative nationwide share of the votes of the parties.

Results

Nationwide result

The following lists the nationwide results with the parliamentary seats won.

Party / electoral alliance Abbreviation be right % Seats
nationwide Constituencies total
United National Front UNF 4,086,026 45.62 13 96 109
  People's Alliance PA 3,330,815 37.19 11 66 77
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
 JVP 815.353 9.10 3 13 16
Tamil National Alliance TNA 348.164 3.88 1 14th 15th
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress SLMC 105,346 1.17 1 4th 5
Eelam People's Democratic Party EPDP 72,783 0.81 0 2 2
Democratic People's Liberation Front DPLF 16,669 0.18 0 1 1
All the rest together 180.713 2.05 0 0 0
total 8,955,869 100.0 29 196 225
Invalid or empty ballot papers
(as a percentage of those submitted)		 493,944
(5.22%)
Total votes cast
(turnout)		 9,449,813
(76.03%)
Registered voters 12,428,762

Overall, the United National Front was the clear winner of the election. It received 45.62% of the votes (+ 5.41% compared to the election in the previous year) and 109 (48.44%) of the 225 parliamentary seats (+20 compared to the 2000 election). The People's Alliance clearly lost votes (−7.91%) and seats (−30). The JVP gained votes (+3.11%) and mandates (+6).

Results by constituency

The United National Front became the party with the strongest votes in 17 of the 22 constituencies, but in many cases only by a narrow margin over the People's Alliance. The Tamil United Liberation Front was the party with the largest number of votes in the three Tamil-speaking constituencies of Jaffna, Vanni and Batticaloa. In the also predominantly Tamil constituency of Trincomalee, the UNF became the strongest party. The results were most heterogeneous in the Digamadulla constituency, where four parties performed similarly (UNF, PA, TNA / TULF and SLMC). The only constituency in which the People's Alliance became the strongest party was the Moneragala district in the Sinhalese "heartland".

Constituency Valid
votes 		Seats UNF PA JVP TNA SLMC Other Wahlbe-
pation
% Seats % Seats % Seats % Seats % Seats % Seats
Colombo 1,058,481 21st 51.62 12 33.39 7th 11.09 2 1.20 0 - 0 2.70 0 76.31
Gampaha 995.230 18th 43.94 9 43.08 7th 11.45 2 - 0 - 0 1.53 0 80.36
Kalutara 553,619 10 45.94 5 40.91 4th 10.92 1 - 0 - 0 2.23 0 81.68
Mahanuwara 595.576 12 52.77 7th 39.23 4th 6.24 1 - 0 - 0 1.76 0 76.03
Matale 218.090 5 50.43 3 40.80 2 7.37 0 - 0 - 0 1.40 0 79.44
Nuwara Eliya 315.099 7th 68.28 5 24.67 2 3.52 0 - 0 - 0 3.53 0 82.34
bile 541.914 10 44.10 5 42.98 4th 11.41 1 - 0 - 0 1.51 0 81.09
Matara 403,967 8th 42.49 4th 42.37 3 13.49 1 - 0 - 0 1.65 0 79.44
Hambantota 281.162 7th 40.02 4th 37.41 2 21.23 1 - 0 - 0 1.34 0 79.81
Jaffna 186,598 9 8.71 1 - 0 0.13 0 54.84 6th 1.80 0 34.52 2 31.14
Vanni 94.506 6th 28.12 2 8.29 0 0.72 0 44.39 3 - 0 18.48 1 46.77
Batticaloa 179.108 5 10.88 0 14.35 1 0.01 0 48.17 3 14.92 1 11.67 0 68.20
Digamadulla 280.215 7th 20.87 1 23.28 2 3.39 0 17.41 1 26.86 3 8.19 0 82.51
Trincomalee 161,138 4th 39.05 2 20.48 1 3.78 0 34.83 1 - 0 1.86 0 79.88
Kurunegala 787.728 15th 48.59 8th 42.24 6th 8.08 1 - 0 - 0 1.09 0 79.01
Puttalam 290.209 7th 50.61 4th 41.69 3 6.24 0 - 0 - 0 1.46 0 71.53
Anuradhapura 359.344 8th 45.93 4th 41.57 3 11.13 1 - 0 - 0 1.37 0 77.42
Polonnauwa 181.497 5 47.82 3 40.60 2 10.44 0 - 0 - 0 1.14 0 80.41
Badulla 373.837 8th 53.81 5 37.03 3 7.17 0 - 0 - 0 1.99 0 81.51
Monaragala 187.333 5 43.00 2 43.67 3 11.74 0 - 0 - 0 1.59 0 82.08
Ratnapura 489,578 10 46.41 5 43.46 4th 8.25 1 - 0 - 0 1.88 0 83.41
Kegalle 421,640 9 49.36 5 40.53 3 8.71 1 - 0 - 0 1.40 0 80.10
Overall result 8,955,869 196 45.62 96 37.19 66 9.10 13 3.88 14th 1.17 4th 3.04 3 76.03
  1. ↑ a b For the Eelam People's Democratic Party 30.66% and 2 seats.
  2. ↑ a b Thereof 10.17% and 1 seat for the Democratic People's Liberation Front.
  3. ↑ Thereof 3.13% for the Democratic People's Liberation Front and 2.32% for the Eelam People's Democratic Party.

Voting cards

  • Majorities (parties with the highest number of votes) in the 22 constituencies: United National Front (UNF) People's Alliance (PA) Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC)
    
    
    
    

  • Majorities (parties with the highest voting power) in the 160 electoral districts: United National Front (UNF) People's Alliance (PA) PA, turnout below 2% Tamil National Alliance (TNA) TNA, turnout below 2% Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP)
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Parliamentary Elections Results. Department of Elections, accessed on October 19, 2019 (English, the 5 percent threshold clause did not apply nationwide, but always based on the respective constituency).
  2. ↑ a b c d e EU ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION TO SRI LANKA: Final Report of the European Union's Observation Mission to Sri Lanka's December 5, 2001 Parliamentary Election. EU Commission, accessed on August 9, 2015 (English).
  3. ↑ a b c Laksiri Jayasuriya: Electoral politics in Sri Lanka (1994-2003). School of Social and Cultural Studies, University of Western Australia ( pdf )
  4. ↑ The proposed question was (in the English version: "Is a new Constitution as a matter of national importance and necessity needed for the country?" )
  5. ↑ "... he exercised his mandate independently of pressure from the government and opposition and at all times acted with the utmost integrity."
  6. ↑ PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION - 2001, Composition of Parliament. (No longer available online.) Department of Elections, archived from the original on August 26, 2010 ; accessed on August 8, 2015 .
  7. ↑ a b PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION - 2001, Final District Results. (No longer available online.) Department of Elections, archived from the original January 7, 2009 ; accessed on August 8, 2015 .
  8. ↑ PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION - 2001. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Department of Elections, archived from the original on March 4, 2009 ; accessed on August 8, 2015 .
Elections in Sri Lanka / Ceylon
Elections in British Ceylon

1911 • 1916 • 1921 • 1924 • 1931 • 1936

Flag of Sri Lanka
Parliamentary elections

1947 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 (March) • 1960 (July) • 1965 • 1970 • 1977 • 1989 • 1994 • 2000 • 2001 • 2004 • 2010 • 2015 • 2020

Presidential election

1982 • 1988 • 1994 • 1999 • 2005 • 2010 • 2015 • 2019

Referendums

1982