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| 1980, Oct. 16 |
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| Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, leader of the SLFP, was expelled from Parliament after a presidential commission of inquiry found her guilty on charges of abuse of power. | 1 |
| Despite attempts to accommodate minorities, the Jayawardene government faced increasing ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority. Tamil separatists (including a number of guerrilla groups) continued to operate in the north and east. | 2 |
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| 1982, Oct |
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| The presidential election gave Jayawardene a massive majority, making him the first head of government to win two consecutive terms. | 3 |
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| Dec. 22 |
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| A referendum asked for a mandate for Jayawardene to extend the life of the 1977 Parliament for six more years; the electorate endorsed this, thus guaranteeing the UNP a huge majority in Parliament until 1989. Through four sets of national elections, held between Oct. 1982 and June 1983, the UNP consolidated its hold on the electorate. | 4 |
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