2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election

2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election
← 2015 5 August 2020 2024 →
All 225 seats in the Parliament of Sri Lanka
113 seats needed for a majority
Turnout75.89% (Decrease 1.77pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa Sajith Premadasa R. Sampanthan
Party SLPFA SJB TNA
Last election Did not exist Did not exist 4.62%, 16 seats
Seats won 145 54 10
Seat change New party New party Decrease 6
Popular vote 6,853,690 2,771,980 327,168
Percentage 59.09% 23.90% 2.82%
Swing New party New party Decrease 1.80pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake Ranil Wickremesinghe
Party NPP UNP
Last election 4.87%, 6 seats[a] 45.66%, 106 seats[b]
Seats won 3 1
Seat change Decrease 3 Decrease 105
Popular vote 445,958 249,435
Percentage 3.84% 2.15%
Swing Decrease 1.03pp Decrease 43.51pp
Results by polling division:
      SLPFA        SJB        TNA        SLFP        EPDP        Other parties
Prime Minister before election

Mahinda Rajapaksa
SLPFA

Prime Minister after election

Mahinda Rajapaksa
SLPFA

This article is part of a series on the
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  • R. M. A. L. Rathnayake
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Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 16th Parliament.[1][2][3] 16,263,885 people were eligible to vote in the election, 31.95% of whom were young voters.[4][5]

The incumbent Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance coalition claimed a landslide victory in the election, winning 145 seats,[6][7][8] while Samagi Jana Balawegaya won 54 seats, Tamil National Alliance won 10 seats and National People's Power won 3 seats.[9][10][11] The main opposition United National Party suffered its worst showing in history following a split over party leadership, finishing in fifth place with only one seat.[12]

The election was postponed at least twice due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, before the date was finalized as 5 August 2020.[13][14] Prior to the election, a coronavirus-proof mock election was conducted by the Election Commission in June 2020 as a trial run in order to comply with health guidelines.[15][16]

Initial reports revealed that the overall voter turnout was estimated at 70%, comparatively less than the turnout of the previous elections, mainly due to COVID-19.[17] Vote counting started on 6 August 2020 at around 9 am.[18] The new parliament is expected to reconvene on 20 August 2020.[19][20]

In November 2018, the date was briefly moved forward by more than a year to 5 January 2019 after President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved parliament during a constitutional crisis and called for a snap election.[21] The Supreme Court later suspended the dissolution and ordered a halt to the snap election, effectively moving the election's date back to 2020.[22]


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  1. ^ "Sri Lankan parliament dissolved; elections set for April". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  2. ^ "General Election will be held on June 20". MSN.
  3. ^ "Sri Lanka general elections 2020 – LIVE UPDATES". EconomyNext. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Over 1.2 million new votes registered for Sri Lanka's upcoming polls". EconomyNext. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Sri Lanka's youth are unlikely to vote for the old guard in Parliament". EconomyNext. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Rajapaksas dominates South with landslide victory in Sri Lankan elections | Tamil Guardian". www.tamilguardian.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  7. ^ Iqbal Athas and Helen Regan. "Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa declares victory in parliamentary elections". CNN. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Sri Lanka Podujana Party wins 2020 general elections in a landslide". EconomyNext. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Rajapaksa declares election victory in Sri Lanka". BBC News. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Sri Lanka : 2020 Parliamentary Election Results: SLPP wins six seats in Matara district, SJB one". www.colombopage.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Rajapaksa brothers win by landslide in Sri Lanka's election". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Sri Lanka ex-PM's UNP polls less than 5-pct in declared Colombo seats". EconomyNext. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Sri Lanka prepares for twice-delayed poll amid militarized COVID-19 response · Global Voices". Global Voices. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  14. ^ Srinivasan, Meera (13 July 2020). "Lanka election body 'monitoring' virus spike". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Sri Lanka holds coronavirus-proof test vote". BBC News. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Sri Lanka to conduct advance polling for people under quarantine". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Sri Lanka 2020 general elections turnout lower, steepest in Kurunegala". EconomyNext. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Sri Lanka counts votes from parliamentary elections". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  19. ^ "New Parliament to meet on August 20". Daily News. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  20. ^ "New Parliament to meet on 20th of August 2020". Sri Lanka News – Newsfirst. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  21. ^ Bastians, Dharisha; Goel, Vindu (9 November 2018). "Sri Lanka President Dissolves Parliament Amid Power Struggle". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  22. ^ "Sri Lanka Supreme Court overturns dissolution of parliament". Al Jazeera and news agencies. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.