| 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka | |||||
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| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | Parliament of Sri Lanka | ||||
| Term | 22 July 1977 – 8 March 1989 | ||||
| Election | 21 July 1977 | ||||
| Senior parliamentarians | |||||
| Speaker | Anandatissa de Alwis, UNP (1977–78) Abdul Bakeer Markar, UNP (1978–83) E. L. Senanayake, UNP (1983–89) | ||||
| Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees | M. A. Bakeer Markar, UNP (1977–78) Norman Waidyaratne, UNP (1978–88) | ||||
| Deputy Chairman of Committees | Edmund Samarawickrema, UNP | ||||
| Prime Minister | J. R. Jayewardene, UNP (1977–78) Ranasinghe Premadasa, UNP (1978–89) | ||||
| Leader of the Opposition | A. Amirthalingam, TULF (1977–83) Anura Bandaranaike, SLFP (1983–88) | ||||
| Leader of the House | Ranasinghe Premadasa, UNP (1977–88) Ranil Wickremesinghe, UNP (1989) | ||||
| Chief Government Whip | Vincent Perera, UNP | ||||
| Chief Opposition Whip | X. M. Sellathambu, TULF (1977–83) Lakshman Jayakody, SLFP (1983–89) | ||||
The 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 1977 parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977. The parliament met for the first time on 22 July 1977 and was dissolved on 8 March 1989.
The United National Party won a 5⁄6 majority to form a government under J. R. Jayewardene. Later Jayawardane introduced a new constitution to Sri Lanka and was elected as the 1st Executive President of Sri Lanka.
On 22 December 1982, the 1982 Sri Lankan national referendum was held, giving the people of Sri Lanka the option to extend the life of parliament by 6 years without an election. It was the first and so far only national referendum to be held in Sri Lanka. The referendum was called for by President Jayawardene, who had been elected to a fresh six-year term as president in October 1982. The government extended their term to stay in power in 1983 without an election and stayed in power until 1989.