The United National party led United National Front emerged victorious at the general election, and is expected to form a coalition government with the SLMC, mustering a single seat majority in Parliament. The UNP/UNF won 109 seats, while the PA won 77 the JVP 16, the Tamil National Alliance 15, the SLMC five, the EPDP two and the DPLF one. The Sihala Urumaya failed to retain the single seat it had won at the last election. It was the one party to be voted out entirely.

The UNP won all but five out of the total 22 districts. The TULF won there districts (Batticaloa, Wanni and Jaffna), the SLMC Digamadulla and the PA Moneragala. The districts won by the UNP were Colombo, Kandy, Badulla, Polonnaruwa, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Kalutara, Matale, Puttlam, Hambantota, Kegalle, Matara, Gampaha, Galle, Kurunegala and Trincomalee.

The UNP/UNF polled 4,086,026 almost 750,000 votes over the PA which polled 3,330,815. The JVP which polled 815,353 votes captured six extra seats at this election.

The UNP which had under its wing the rebel PA group, the CWC, the Upcountry People’s Front, and the SLMC in some districts improved its total number of seats from 89 last year to 96. The PA won 77 seats thirty less than the last time. The JVP was the biggest gainer as a single party with 16 seats, an improvement of six seats. The DPLF (PLOTE) which was unable to secure a single seat in the last Parliament captured one seat. The EPDP seats were halved at this election to just two.

The TULF, ACTC and TELO which singly won five, one and three seats last time won 16 seats contesting under the umbrella TNA.

A majority of the PA rebels whose crossover led to the fall of the PA government lost their seats. Four who contested the election were not returned while it is unlikely that two others Ananda Munasinghe and Jayasundara Wijekoon on the UNP National List too will get slots. Of the rebels, Bandula Parakrama Gunawardena, Nandimitra Ekanayake, Brigadier Sarath Munasinghe and Wijepala Mendis lost their seats, while Mahinda Wijesekera (Matara), Bandula Gunawardena (Colombo) and Lakshman Kiriella retained their’s. S B Dissanayake and G L Peiris who are on the UNP National List will retain their seats.

On the UNP ticket the SLMC managed to win just two slots while winning five on their own. SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem and another member from Trincomalee district were elected on the UNP/UNF ticket.

Former Minister and leader of the Communist Party Indika Gunawardena who contested the Colombo district lost his seat with the PA winning just seven seats against the UNP’s 12. His brother leader of the MEP Dinesh Gunawardena retained his seat, while the another brother Prasanna Gunawardena who is on the UNP National List may also enter Parliament. Arjuna Ranatunga also a first time candidate on the PA ticket was elected to Parliament. On the UNP side, two first-timers Milinda Moragoda and Mano Ganeshan won seats, pushing out Samson Silva. Moragoda polled the second highest number of preferences, with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe topping the list with 415,686. Mervyn Silva who contested the Colombo district and organised the Colombo Central electorate lost his seat. The JVP won two seats in Colombo.

Wijeyapala Mendis who lost his seat is the senior-most UNP politician with a 50-year career. He contested the Gampaha district on the PA ticket. With his defeat the UNP will have one slot free in its prospective cabinet. He contested the election as the co-leader for the Gampaha district with Karu Jayasuriya.

The UNP was able to win the Gampaha district which the PA had retained at all the last elections. The district which was led by Anura Bandaranaike was lost by 10,000 votes. This district which was led by the President at most elections and nursed by Susil Premjayantha at the last election. But Premajayantha was moved to Colombo this time. The distribution of seats was nine to the UNP, seven to the PA and two to the JVP.

Both Ronnie de Mel and his wife will be in Parliament the former an appointed member and his wife elected from the Matara district. Mrs Mallika de Mel a first time candidate was able to secure a seat. PA’s Chandrasiri Gajadeera, a member of the LSSP, lost his seat, while Mahinda Wijesekera was returned having contested on the UNP ticket. He topped the UNP list on preferential votes. UNP’s Justin Galappathy too re-entered Parliament having lost at the last election, while Sarath Gunawardena of the UNP too lost his seat. The distribution of seats was four to the UNP, three to the PA and one to the JVP.

Former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramenayake retained his seat contesting from the Kalutara district while his son a first time candidate failed to win a seat. Mahinda Samarasinghe topped the UNP list, while the two PA rebels who contested on the UNP ticket Parakrama Bandula Gunawardena and Ediriweera Premaratne both lost their seats.

Kegalle District saw the return of Rukman Senanayake who led the UNP campaign, having been moved to the district from Polonnaruwa district just two months before the election. He topped the UNP list on preference votes. Kabir Hashim re-entered having lost at the last election, pushing out Mano Wijeratne. The distribution of seats was five to the UNP three to the PA and one to the JVP.

In Kandy the UNP saw two new entrants one Halim and Chitra Mantilleke who was the opposition leader of the Central Provincial Council. Keheliya Rambukwella topped the UNP list while Anuruddha Ratwatte topped the PA list. SLMC Rauff Hakeem too was elected. The distribution of seats was seven to the UNP, four to the PA and one to the JVP.