Results
The UNP won the largest landslide in Sri Lankan history (due to the first-past-the-post system). For the first time, a Tamil party won the second-highest number of seats in Parliament and became the Official Opposition.
Abeyratne Pilapitiya of the UNP was elected MP for Kalawana, but was subsequently unseated in an election petition. Sarath Muttetuwegama of the Communist Party was returned to Parliament in the ensuing by-election.
The 1977 election was the only one ever held under the 1972 constitution.
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United National Party | 154 | 3,179,221 | 50.92 | 140 | |
| Tamil United Liberation Front | 23 | 421,488 | 6.75 | 18 | |
| Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 147 | 1,855,331 | 29.72 | 8 | |
| Ceylon Workers' Congress | 2 | 62,707 | 1.00 | 1 | |
| Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 82 | 225,317 | 3.61 | 0 | |
| Communist Party of Sri Lanka | 25 | 123,856 | 1.98 | 0 | |
| Mahajana Eksath Peramuna | 27 | 22,639 | 0.36 | 0 | |
| Others | 295 | 353,014 | 5.65 | 1 | |
| Valid Votes | 755 | 6,243,573 | 100.00 | 168 | |
| Rejected Votes | |||||
| Total Votes Polled | |||||
| Total Electors Polled1 | |||||
| Registered Electors | 6,667,589 | ||||
| Turnout | |||||
| Source: Sri Lanka Statistics Read more about this topic: Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election, 1977 Famous quotes containing the word results:“... dependence upon material possessions inevitably results in the destruction of human character.” “Nothing is as difficult as to achieve results in this world if one is filled full of great tolerance and the milk of human kindness. The person who achieves must generally be a one-ideaed individual, concentrated entirely on that one idea, and ruthless in his aspect toward other men and other ideas.” “The study and knowledge of the universe would somehow be lame and defective were no practical results to follow.” | |||||