 Wickremanayake lost his Parliamentary seat in the landslide defeat of the SLFP in the general elections of 1977.He became General Secretary of the SLFP in 1978.In the general elections of 1994, Wickremanayake won the Kalutara District seat and then became Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs and Plantation Industries in the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga.