 He lost his premiership role in December 2001 when his party lost to the opposition party, United National Party, by taking 109 of the 225 Parliament seats.Wickremanayake was the senior vice-president of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).After the SLFP won the 2004 parliamentary elections, Wickremanayake was appointed Minister of Buddhist Affairs, Public Security, and Law and Order, and Deputy Minister for Defence.