13th Parliament of Sri Lanka


The 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka, known officially as the 6th Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 2004 parliamentary election held on 2 April 2004. The parliament met for the first time on 22 April 2004 and was dissolved on 9 February 2010.

Election

The 13th parliamentary election was held on 2 April 2004. The United People's Freedom Alliance, a newly formed opposition alliance, became the largest group in Parliament by winning 105 of the 225 seats. The incumbent United National Front won 82 seats. The minority Tamil party Tamil National Alliance won 22 seats. Smaller parties won the remaining 16 seats.

Results

The new parliament was sworn in on 22 April 2004. W. J. M. Lokubandara, the opposition's candidate, was elected Speaker after three dramatic rounds of voting in Parliament. The parliament reconvened on 18 May 2004 to elect unopposed Gitanjana Gunawardena as Deputy Speaker and M. Satchithanandan as the Deputy Chairman of Committees.

Government

The UPFA was able to form a minority government with the support of the sole Eelam People's Democratic Party MP.
On 6 April 2004, President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa, the leader of the UPFA, as the new prime minister. The rest of the government, comprising 30 ministers and 31 deputy ministers, was sworn in on 10 April 2004. President Kumaratunga retained control over the important ministries of Defence, Public Security, Law & Order, Highways, Education and Buddha Sasana.
Shortly afterwards, a number of defections and counter-defections from the opposition increased the size of the government to 129 MPs, most of whom were rewarded with ministerial posts. This allowed the UPFA form a stable government which lasted six years.
Following the expiration of the second term of President Kumaratunga, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa won the 2005 presidential elections. Rajapaksa was succeeded as prime minister by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake.
By January 2007, the government had grown to a size of 104, and by the end of the 13th parliament, would further increase to 109. There were only a handful of UPFA MPs without any ministerial position. The government was the largest government in Sri Lanka's history and proportionally one of the largest in the world, and was fittingly known as the "Jumbo Cabinet" due to its sheer size.

Changes in party/alliance affiliations

The 13th parliament saw a number of defections and counter-defections:
  • 18 May 2004 – One SLMC MP joins the UPFA government.
  • 9 August 2004 – 2 SLMC MPs join the UPFA government.
  • 3 September 2004 – 8 CWC MPs join the UPFA government, giving it a majority in parliament.
  • 16 June 2005 – All 39 JVP MPs leave the UPFA government.
  • 14 December 2005 – One CWC MP joins UPFA government.
  • 25 January 2006 – 2 UNP MPs cross over to the UPFA.
  • 28 January 2007 – 18 UNP MPs and 6 SLMC MPs join the UPFA.
  • 30 January 2007 – 8 JHU MPs join the UPFA.
  • 12 December 2007 – 4 SLMC MPs leave the UPFA government.
  • 28 December 2008 – 12 NFF MPs, who had defected from the JVP earlier in May 2008, join the UPFA government.

Members

Deaths and resignations

The 13th parliament saw numerous deaths and resignations: