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 United National Party won a 5/6 majority to form a government under J.R. Jayewardene. later Mr Jayawardane introduce a new constitution to Sri Lanka and was elected the 1st President of Sri Lanka. The government extended their term to stay in power in 1983 with out an election and stayed in power until 1989. The 1982 Sri Lankan national referendum took place on December 22, 1982, giving the people of Sri Lanka the option to extend the life of parliament by 6 years. It was the first and so far only national referendum to be held in Sri Lanka.[1] The referendum was called for by President J. R. Jayawardene, who had been elected to a fresh six-year term as President in October 1982. With the life of the current parliament due to expire in August 1983,

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.

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