1982 Sri Lankan presidential election

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1982 Sri Lankan presidential election
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg
20 October 1982 1988  →
Turnout81.06%
  Junius Richard Jayawardana (1906-1996).jpg
Nominee J. R. Jayewardene Hector Kobbekaduwa
Party UNP SLFP
Popular vote3,450,8112,548,438
Percentage52.91%39.07%
Sri Lankan presidential election 1982.png
Winners of polling divisions. Jayewardene in green and Kobbekaduwa in blue.
President before election

J. R. Jayewardene
UNP

Elected President

J. R. Jayewardene
UNP

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka for the first time on 20 October 1982. Incumbent president J. R. Jayewardene of the governing United National Party was elected, receiving 53% of all votes cast. [1] [2]

Contents

Nominations were accepted on 17 September 1982 and electoral participation was 81.06%. The election was described as a fight between capitalism and socialism: Hector Kobbekaduwa, who advocated to carry on the policies of the previous SLFP-led regime of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was expected to undo most of the open market and capitalist reforms brought in by J. R. Jayewardene. [3]

Although the SLFP lost, they managed to win a significant number of votes in Tamil-speaking areas in the north. [4]

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
J. R. Jayewardene United National Party 3,450,81152.91
Hector Kobbekaduwa Sri Lanka Freedom Party 2,548,43839.07
Rohana Wijeweera Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 273,4284.19
Kumar Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress 173,9342.67
Colvin R. de Silva Lanka Sama Samaja Party 58,5310.90
Vasudeva Nanayakkara Nava Sama Samaja Party 17,0050.26
Total6,522,147100.00
Valid votes6,522,14798.78
Invalid/blank votes80,4701.22
Total votes6,602,617100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,145,01581.06
Source: Election Commission

District

Districts won by Jayewardene
Districts won by Ponnambalam
Summary of the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election by electoral district [5]
Electoral
District 		Province Jayewardene Kobbekaduwa OthersTotal
Valid		Rejected
Votes		Total
Polled		Registered
Electors		Turnout
Votes%Votes%Votes%
Ampara Eastern 90,77256.39%53,09632.99%17,10210.62%160,9702,101163,071204,26879.83%
Anuradhapura North Central 117,87349.84%102,97343.54%15,6776.63%236,5232,294238,817278,59485.72%
Badulla Uva 141,06258.67%88,46236.79%10,9164.54%240,4402,982243,422280,18786.88%
Batticaloa Eastern 48,09440.05%21,68818.06%50,29441.89%120,0762,879122,955172,48071.29%
Colombo Western 436,29057.71%276,47636.57%43,2655.72%756,0317,990764,021972,19678.59%
Galle Southern 211,54450.23%180,92542.96%28,6696.81%421,1385,198426,336512,48983.19%
Gampaha Western 365,83852.50%301,80843.31%29,1924.19%696,8385,992702,830835,26584.14%
Hambantota Southern 90,54545.90%76,40238.73%30,33115.37%197,2781,804199,082241,95682.28%
Jaffna Northern 44,78020.54%77,30035.46%95,92344.00%218,00310,610228,613493,70546.31%
Kalutara Western 211,59250.15%185,87444.06%24,4265.79%421,8925,290427,182499,21585.57%
Kandy Central 289,62159.80%178,64736.89%16,0293.31%484,2974,548488,845564,76786.56%
Kegalle Sabaragamuwa 195,44457.02%126,53836.92%20,7806.06%342,7624,537347,299406,54885.43%
Kurunegala North Western 345,76955.77%248,47940.08%25,7304.15%619,9785,431625,409717,50587.16%
Matale Central 94,03158.11%59,29936.65%8,4845.24%161,8141,414163,228187,27687.16%
Matara Southern 164,72549.32%144,58743.29%24,6717.39%333,9833,091337,074399,88884.29%
Monaragala Uva 51,26449.38%44,11542.49%8,4428.13%103,8211,553105,374126,55883.26%
Nuwara Eliya Central 109,01763.10%57,09333.05%6,6593.85%172,7692,048174,817201,87886.60%
Polonnaruwa North Central 59,41456.26%37,24335.26%8,9588.48%105,6151,064106,679127,62483.59%
Puttalam North Western 128,87759.12%80,00636.70%9,0974.17%217,9801,995219,975267,67582.18%
Ratnapura Sabaragamuwa 175,90350.90%152,50644.13%17,1954.98%345,6043,407349,011402,20286.78%
Trincomalee Eastern 45,52248.64%31,70033.87%16,37417.49%93,5961,79595,391133,64671.38%
Vanni Northern 32,83446.42%23,22132.83%14,68420.76%70,7392,44773,186119,09361.45%
Total3,450,81152.91%2,548,43839.07%522,8988.02%6,522,14780,4706,602,6178,145,01581.06%

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References

  1. ↑ Selbourne, David (1983). "The Sri Lankan elections, Oct.–Dec. 1982". Electoral Studies. 2 (2): 175–177. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(83)90062-8. ISSN   0261-3794.
  2. ↑ Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A. (1983). "Sri Lanka in 1982: A Year of Elections". Asian Survey. 23 (2): 158–164. doi:10.2307/2644347. ISSN   0004-4687. JSTOR   2644347.
  3. ↑ Stevens, William K. (20 October 1982). "Election in Sri Lanka Capitalism Versus Socialism". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ "Features | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers".
  5. ↑ "Presidential Election – 20.10.1982: All Island Results - By Electoral Districts" (PDF). Colombo, Sri Lanka: Election Commission of Sri Lanka . Retrieved 24 November 2019.
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