Her economic policies had led to industrial growth and self-reliance, but were insufficient to overcome unemployment.

The government's strong Sinhala nationalist stance had led to unrest in the Tamil north; in response, an island-wide state of emergency was imposed, causing hardship to many people.

Constitutionally, the UNP called for replacing the Westminster-based political system with one modelled along French lines.

The UNP won the largest landslide in Sri Lankan history, taking over half the vote and 140 of the 168 seats, five-sixths of the legislature.

For the first time, a Tamil party won the second-highest number of seats in Parliament and became the Official Opposition.