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

The accord required a referendum to be held by 31 December 1988 in the Eastern Province to decide whether the merger should be permanent.

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.