The elections were largely seen as a referendum on the handling of the civil war by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse.

[2][3] In an attempt to end the Sri Lankan Civil War the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed on 29 July 1987.

The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, an Indian backed paramilitary group, won control of the North Eastern provincial council.

On 1 March 1990, just as the Indian Peace Keeping Force were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, Annamalai Varatharajah Perumal, Chief Minister of the North Eastern Province, moved a motion in the North Eastern Provincial Council declaring an independent Eelam.

[9] President Premadasa reacted to Permual's UDI by dissolving the provincial council and imposing direct rule on the province.

A special election was held in Southern Province in 1994 after some UNP provincial councillors defected to the opposition.

It was also able to form a majority administration in the other five provinces with the support of smaller parties such as the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) .

The UNP regained control of the Central Provincial Council in 2002 after the CWC councillors crossed over to the opposition.