SUMMARY

PA (People’s Alliance) was a mainstream, centre-left, mainly Sinhalese, alliance of political parties in Sri Lanka, formed around the left-leaning Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in order to contest the 1994 elections and end the 17 year rule of the United National Party (UNP). The alliance promoted a negotiated settlement of the civil war as well as increased welfare (while maintaining a liberal, market economy). PA dissolved before the 2004 elections, many of its former composing parties (including SLFP) reuniting under a new name, the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

Electoral violence has been a mainstay of the Sri Lankan electoral process, being present in some form or another at nearly every Sri Lankan election. Such violence manifests itself, usually, in a relatively unorganized fashion, mainly through rallies that get out of control, degenerating into fighting, or local-level violence that erupts in an uncontrolled fashion. Further, actions by the Thamil Eelam Viduthalai Puligal: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), usually with intent to sabotage and derail the elections (through means such as suicide bombings, assassinations of key political figures and various other forms of attack), increase the level of violence. This happens as supporters of traditional political parties (such as PA or UNP) do not rally only against LTTEs actions, but also against their traditional political rivals.

PA supporters have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.