Sri Lankan provincial council elections, 2013

6th Sri Lankan provincial council election
Sri Lanka
21 September 2013
148 seats across 3 provincial councils
Turnout 65.85%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa R. Sampanthan Ranil Wickremasinghe
Party United People's Freedom Alliance Tamil National Alliance United National Party
Popular vote 1,504,273 353,595 590,888
Percentage 55.66% 13.08% 21.86%
Councillors 77 30 28
Councils 2 1 0

Winners of polling divisions. UPFA in blue, TNA in yellow and UNP in green.

Provincial council elections were held in Sri Lanka on 21 September 2013 to elect 148 members to three of the nine provincial councils in the country. 4.4 million Sri Lankans were eligible to vote in the election.[1] Elections to the remaining six provincial councils were not due as they had their last election in 2009 or 2012. This was the first provincial council election in the Northern Province in 25 years.[2]

The United People's Freedom Alliance's domination of Sri Lankan elections continued as expected. It retained control of two provincial councils (Central and North Western) but the Tamil National Alliance won control of the first Northern Provincial Council.

Background

In an attempt to end the Sri Lankan Civil War the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed on 29 July 1987. One of the requirements of the accord was that the Sri Lankan government to devolve powers to the provinces.[3] Accordingly on 14 November 1987 the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Councils Act No 42 of 1987.[4][5] On 3 February 1988 nine provincial councils were created by order.[6] The first elections for provincial councils took place on 28 April 1988 in North Central, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, and Uva provinces.[7] On 2 June 1988 elections were held for provincial councils for Central, Southern and Western provinces. The United National Party (UNP), which was in power nationally, won control of all seven provincial councils.

The Indo-Lanka Accord also required the merger of the Eastern and Northern provinces into one administrative unit. The accord required a referendum to be held by 31 December 1988 in the Eastern Province to decide whether the merger should be permanent. Crucially, the accord allowed the Sri Lankan president to postpone the referendum at his discretion.[3] On September 2 and 8 1988 President Jayewardene issued proclamations enabling the Eastern and Northern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected council, creating the North Eastern Province.[6] Elections in the newly merged North Eastern Province were held on 19 November 1988. The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, an Indian backed paramilitary group, won control of the North Eastern provincial council.

On 1 March 1990, just as the Indian Peace Keeping Force were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, Annamalai Varadaraja Perumal, Chief Minister of the North Eastern Province, moved a motion in the North Eastern Provincial Council declaring an independent Eelam.[8] President Premadasa reacted to Permual's UDI by dissolving the provincial council and imposing direct rule on the province.

The 2nd Sri Lankan provincial council election was held in 1993 in seven provinces. The UNP retained control of six provincial councils but lost control of the largest provincial council, Western, to the opposition People's Alliance. A special election was held in Southern Province in 1994 after some UNP provincial councillors defected to the opposition. The PA won the election and took control of the Southern Provincial Council.

The 3rd Sri Lankan provincial council election was held in 1999 in seven provinces. The PA, which was now in power nationally, managed to win the majority of seats in two provinces (North Central and North Western). It was also able to form a majority administration in the other five provinces with the support of smaller parties such as the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) . The UNP regained control of the Central Provincial Council in 2002 after the CWC councillors crossed over to the opposition.[9]

The 4th Sri Lankan provincial council election was held in 2004 in seven provinces. The United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the successor to the PA, won all seven provinces.

On 14 July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger, the JVP filed three separate petitions with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East.[6] On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal effect.[6] The North Eastern Province was formally demerged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007.

The 5th Sri Lankan provincial council election was held on a staggered basis during 2008/09 in eight provinces including the newly demerged Eastern Province. The UPFA won all eight provinces.

Soon after the civil war ended in May 2009 there were calls for election to be held for the Northern Provincial Council. In January 2010 government minister Douglas Devananda stated that the election would be held soon after the 2010 presidential election.[10] But the election wasn't held although presidential, parliamentary and local elections were held in the Northern Province.[11] As the government procrastinated, international pressure mounted. In an interview with The Hindu in July 2012 President Rajapaksa stated the election would be held in September 2013.[12] In March 2013 the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution which, amongst other things, welcomed the decision to hold the election in September 2013.[13][14]

The 6th Sri Lankan provincial council election was also held on a staggered basis. Elections were held on 8 September 2012 in Eastern, North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces. The UPFA won the majority of seats in two provinces (North Central and Sabaragamuwa) and was also able to form a majority administration in Eastern Provinces with the support of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. On 5 July 2013 President Rajapaksa issued a proclamation ordering the Election Commissioner to conduct elections for the Northern Provincial Council.[15][16] Central Provincial Council and North Western Provincial Council were also dissolved by their governors on 5 July 2013.[17]

Details

Nominations took place between 25 July 2013 and 1 August 2013.[18][19] 210 nominations (131 form registered political parties, 79 from independent groups) were received by the returning officers of which 201 nominations (126 form registered political parties, 75 from independent groups) were accepted and nine nominations (five form registered political parties, four from independent groups) were rejected.[20] The UPFA, UNP and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna are contesting in all ten districts, the Tamil National Alliance is contesting in the five districts in Northern Province whilst the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, a constituent party of the UPFA, is contesting separately in seven districts.[21]

After the nomination period had ended Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya announced that the elections would be held on 21 September 2013.[22][23]

Results

Overall

The UPFA won control of two provincial councils (Central and North Western) whilst the TNA won control of Northern Provincial Council.

Alliances and parties Votes % Seats Councils
  United People's Freedom Alliance 1,504,273 55.66% 77 2
  Tamil National Alliance[29] 353,595 13.08% 30 1
  United National Party 590,888 21.86% 28 0
  Democratic Party 91,523 3.39% 5 0
  Sri Lanka Muslim Congress[28] 52,409 1.94% 4 0
  Ceylon Workers' Congress[24] 29,285 1.08% 2 0
  Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 33,799 1.25% 1 0
  Up-Country People's Front 24,913 0.92% 1 0
  Independent lists 7,450 0.28% 0 0
Jana Setha Peramuna 2,783 0.10% 0 0
Sri Lanka People's Party 1,842 0.07% 0 0
Our National Front 1,495 0.06% 0 0
  Eelavar Democratic Front 1,396 0.05% 0 0
United Lanka Great Council 1,023 0.04% 0 0
Patriotic National Front 912 0.03% 0 0
  Democratic Unity Alliance 826 0.03% 0 0
Nationalities Unity Organisation 762 0.03% 0 0
Socialist Alliance 726 0.03% 0 0
  United Socialist Party 711 0.03% 0 0
United Lanka People's Party 554 0.02% 0 0
New Democratic Front 504 0.02% 0 0
Ruhuna People's Party 300 0.01% 0 0
Sri Lanka Labour Party 253 0.01% 0 0
New Sinhala Heritage 154 0.01% 0 0
  Socialist Equality Party 101 0.00% 0 0
Muslim Liberation Front 92 0.00% 0 0
Valid Votes 2,702,569 100.00% 148 3
Rejected Votes 170,615
Total Polled 2,873,184
Registered Electors 4,363,252
Turnout 65.85%

Central Province

Results of the 6th Central Provincial Council election held on 21 September 2013:[30]

Alliances and parties Kandy Matale Nuwara Eliya Bonus
Seats 		Total
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
  United People's Freedom Alliance 355,812 55.76% 16 135,128 59.99% 7 225,307 68.87% 11 2 716,247 60.16% 36
  United National Party 200,187 31.37% 9 63,365 28.13% 3 67,263 20.56% 4 0 330,815 27.79% 16
  Democratic Party 37,431 5.87% 2 4,423 1.96% 0 3,385 1.03% 0 0 45,239 3.80% 2
  Ceylon Workers' Congress 18,787 2.94% 1 10,498 4.66% 1 0 29,285 2.46% 2
  Up-Country People's Front 1,458 0.23% 0 23,455 7.17% 1 0 24,913 2.09% 1
  Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 11,137 1.75% 1 6,651 2.95% 0 0 17,788 1.49% 1
  Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 7,640 1.20% 0 3,937 1.75% 0 2,310 0.71% 0 0 13,887 1.17% 0
  Independent lists 996 0.16% 0 578 0.26% 0 2,674 0.82% 0 0 4,248 0.36% 0
Sri Lanka People's Party 1,550 0.24% 0 0 1,550 0.13% 0
  Eelavar Democratic Front 1,096 0.34% 0 0 1,096 0.09% 0
Jana Setha Peramuna 756 0.12% 0 161 0.07% 0 37 0.01% 0 0 954 0.08% 0
Socialist Alliance 726 0.22% 0 0 726 0.06% 0
Our National Front 466 0.07% 0 199 0.09% 0 0 665 0.06% 0
United Lanka Great Council 544 0.09% 0 49 0.02% 0 63 0.02% 0 0 656 0.06% 0
Patriotic National Front 342 0.05% 0 66 0.03% 0 129 0.04% 0 0 537 0.05% 0
  United Socialist Party 523 0.16% 0 0 523 0.04% 0
New Democratic Front 504 0.08% 0 0 504 0.04% 0
United Lanka People's Party 117 0.05% 0 138 0.04% 0 0 255 0.02% 0
Ruhuna People's Party 167 0.03% 0 47 0.02% 0 16 0.00% 0 0 230 0.02% 0
New Sinhala Heritage 154 0.02% 0 0 154 0.01% 0
Sri Lanka Labour Party 77 0.01% 0 49 0.02% 0 21 0.01% 0 0 147 0.01% 0
Muslim Liberation Front 89 0.01% 0 0 89 0.01% 0
Valid Votes 638,097 100.00% 29 225,268 100.00% 11 327,143 100.00% 16 2 1,190,508 100.00% 58
Rejected Votes 39,148 15,336 27,677 82,161
Total Polled 677,245 240,604 354,820 1,272,669
Registered Electors 1,015,315 366,549 507,693 1,889,557
Turnout 66.70% 65.64% 69.89% 67.35%

Northern Province

Results of the 1st Northern Provincial Council election held on 21 September 2013:[31]

Northern Provincial Election Results 2013
Alliances and parties Jaffna Kilinochchi Mannar Mullaitivu Vavuniya Bonus
Seats 		Total
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
  Tamil National Alliance 213,907 84.37% 14 37,079 81.57% 3 33,118 62.22% 3 28,266 78.56% 4 41,225 66.10% 4 2 353,595 78.48% 30
  United People's Freedom Alliance 35,995 14.20% 2 7,897 17.37% 1 15,104 28.38% 1 7,209 20.04% 1 16,633 26.67% 2 0 82,838 18.38% 7
  Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 4,571 8.59% 1 199 0.55% 0 1,991 3.19% 0 0 6,761 1.50% 1
  United National Party 855 0.34% 0 54 0.12% 0 187 0.35% 0 197 0.55% 0 1,769 2.84% 0 0 3,062 0.68% 0
  Independent lists 1,445 0.57% 0 29 0.06% 0 49 0.09% 0 54 0.15% 0 327 0.52% 0 0 1,904 0.42% 0
  Democratic Unity Alliance 525 0.21% 0 61 0.13% 0 70 0.13% 0 170 0.27% 0 0 826 0.18% 0
  Eelavar Democratic Front 300 0.66% 0 0 300 0.07% 0
Sri Lanka People's Party 292 0.12% 0 0 292 0.06% 0
  Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 56 0.02% 0 18 0.04% 0 11 0.02% 0 30 0.08% 0 173 0.28% 0 0 288 0.06% 0
  United Socialist Party 165 0.07% 0 23 0.04% 0 0 188 0.04% 0
  Democratic Party 111 0.04% 0 5 0.01% 0 11 0.02% 0 2 0.01% 0 41 0.07% 0 0 170 0.04% 0
  Socialist Equality Party 101 0.04% 0 0 101 0.02% 0
Jana Setha Peramuna 74 0.03% 0 2 0.00% 0 7 0.01% 0 5 0.01% 0 2 0.00% 0 0 90 0.02% 0
Our National Front 87 0.16% 0 0 87 0.02% 0
Sri Lanka Labour Party 16 0.01% 0 4 0.01% 0 7 0.01% 0 2 0.01% 0 3 0.00% 0 0 32 0.01% 0
United Lanka Great Council 6 0.01% 0 1 0.00% 0 6 0.02% 0 2 0.00% 0 0 15 0.00% 0
Nationalities Unity Organisation 4 0.01% 0 10 0.03% 0 0 14 0.00% 0
United Lanka People's Party 2 0.01% 0 6 0.01% 0 0 8 0.00% 0
Muslim Liberation Front 3 0.01% 0 0 3 0.00% 0
Valid Votes 253,542 100.00% 16 45,459 100.00% 4 53,226 100.00% 5 35,982 100.00% 5 62,365 100.00% 6 2 450,574 100.00% 38
Rejected Votes 20,279 4,735 2,989 2,820 4,416 35,239
Total Polled 273,821 50,194 56,215 38,802 66,781 485,813
Registered Electors 426,813 68,600 75,737 53,683 94,644 719,477
Turnout 64.15% 73.17% 74.22% 72.28% 70.56% 67.52%

North Western Province

Results of the 6th North Western Provincial Council election held on 21 September 2013:[32]

Alliances and parties Kurunegala Puttalam Bonus
Seats 		Total
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
  United People's Freedom Alliance 540,513 69.05% 23 164,675 59.10% 9 2 705,188 66.43% 34
  United National Party 169,668 21.67% 7 87,343 31.34% 5 0 257,011 24.21% 12
  Democratic Party 36,096 4.61% 2 10,018 3.60% 1 0 46,114 4.34% 3
  Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 17,130 2.19% 1 10,730 3.85% 1 0 27,860 2.62% 2
  Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 16,311 2.08% 1 3,313 1.19% 0 0 19,624 1.85% 1
Jana Setha Peramuna 627 0.08% 0 1,112 0.40% 0 0 1,739 0.16% 0
  Independent lists 850 0.11% 0 448 0.16% 0 0 1,298 0.12% 0
Nationalities Unity Organisation 232 0.03% 0 516 0.19% 0 0 748 0.07% 0
Our National Front 541 0.07% 0 202 0.07% 0 0 743 0.07% 0
Patriotic National Front 277 0.04% 0 98 0.04% 0 0 375 0.04% 0
United Lanka Great Council 192 0.02% 0 160 0.06% 0 0 352 0.03% 0
United Lanka People's Party 291 0.04% 0 0 291 0.03% 0
Sri Lanka Labour Party 51 0.01% 0 23 0.01% 0 0 74 0.01% 0
Ruhuna People's Party 53 0.01% 0 17 0.01% 0 0 70 0.01% 0
Valid Votes 782,832 100.00% 34 278,655 100.00% 16 2 1,061,487 100.00% 52
Rejected Votes 36,562 16,653 53,215
Total Polled 819,394 295,308 1,114,702
Registered Electors 1,227,810 526,408 1,754,218
Turnout 66.74% 56.10% 63.54%

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ "Districts wise Details of Provincial Councils" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  2. ↑ Ranga Sirilal; Shihar Aneez (5 July 2013). "Sri Lanka to hold polls in ex-war zone for first time in 25 years". Reuters.
  3. 1 2 "Indo Sri Lanka Agreement, 1987". Tamil Nation.
  4. ↑ "Introduction". Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. Government of Sri Lanka.
  5. ↑ "Amendments to the 1978 Constitution". Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. Government of Sri Lanka.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Selvanayagam, S. S. (17 October 2006). "North-East merger illegal: SC". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  7. ↑ "Ethnic Conflict of Sri Lanka: Time Line - From Independence to 1999". International Centre for Ethnic Studies9.
  8. ↑ Ferdinando, Shamindra (10 September 2000). "I'm no traitor, says Perumal". Sunday Island (Sri Lanka).
  9. ↑ Sri Nissanka, Jayantha (30 April 2002). "Central Provincial Council : UNF takes over". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
  10. ↑ Wijewardena, Don Asoka (20 January 2010). "Devananda denies he signed pact with Govt". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  11. ↑ Peiris, Harim (1 May 2013). "TNA vs LTTE – The Northern Provincial Council stakes". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  12. ↑ Radhakrishnan, R. K. (11 July 2012). "Northern Province elections in September 2013, says Rajapaksa". The Hindu.
  13. ↑ "22/1 Promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka" (PDF). United Nations Human Rights Council.
  14. ↑ Bastians, Dharisha (22 March 2013). "UNHRC triumphs over Lanka". Daily FT.
  15. ↑ Srinivasan, Meera (5 July 2013). "Rajapaksa issues proclamation on NPC election". The Hindu.
  16. ↑ "President issues order to conduct Northern PC elections". Ceylon Today. 5 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "NWP and CP Provincial Council to be dissolved". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 5 July 2013.
  18. ↑ "Nominations for North, NWP and Central from July 25 - Aug 1". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 11 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Nominations called for Provincial Council elections". Ceylon Today. 11 July 2013.
  20. ↑ "Summary of Nomination Received and Rejected" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  21. ↑ "Contesting Political Parties and Independent Groups" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  22. ↑ "Polls on September 21". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 1 August 2013.
  23. ↑ "Date of Poll" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  24. 1 2 The Ceylon Workers' Congress contested separately in two districts and with the UPFA in other districts.
  25. 1 2 The Communist Party of Sri Lanka contested with the Socialist Alliance in one district and with the UPFA in other districts.
  26. 1 2 The Democratic Left Front contested with the Socialist Alliance in one district and with the UPFA in other districts.
  27. 1 2 The Lanka Sama Samaja Party contested with the Socialist Alliance in one district and with the UPFA in other districts.
  28. 1 2 The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress contested separately in seven districts and with the UPFA in other districts.
  29. ↑ The TNA contested under and symbol of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi.
  30. ↑ "Provincial Council Elections 2013 : Central Province". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  31. ↑ "Provincial Council Elections 2013 : Northern Province". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  32. ↑ "Provincial Council Elections 2013 : North Western Province". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
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