President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and its allies took a total of 150 seats (see note 1), thereby securing a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament. Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB, see note 2), an opposition party led by Mr. Sajith Premadasa , came a distant second, winning 54 seats. On 9 August, the President’s elder brother and former President, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, was sworn in as Prime Minister for the fourth time.

The 2020 elections were the first to be held under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (a former army colonel and secretary of defence), who defeated Mr. Sajith Premadasa (who was then representing the United National Party, UNP) in the November 2019 presidential elections. Later the same month, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa succeeded President Maithripala Sirisena (who himself had defeated Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential elections). UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe resigned as Prime Minister and was succeeded by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The parliamentary elections, which were constitutionally due by 2021, were initially called for 25 April 2020 but postponed twice – to 20 June, then to 5 August – due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During election campaigning, the SLPP focused on security, referring to the April 2019 Easter bombings that killed more than 250 people.

Note 1: 
The SLPP allied with several political parties during the 2020 elections, The following parties won a total of five seats: Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), which took two seats; and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) and National Congress (NC), which each took one seat. The Cabinet formed after the 2020 elections comprises only the SLPP and the EPDP.

Note 2:
The SJB was officially formed in February 2020 after it split from the United National Party (UNP, led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe) following the 2019 presidential elections.