 After the victory of the United National Party in the 1977 elections, however, the new government attempted to broaden its mandate with a period of political tolerance.Wijeweera was freed, the ban was lifted, and the JVP entered the arena of legal political competition.As a candidate in the 1982 presidential elections, Wijeweera finished fourth, with more than 250,000 votes (as compared with Jayewardene's 3.2 million).