8th Parliament of Sri Lanka

8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
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.