1988 Sri Lankan presidential election

Last updated
1988 Sri Lankan presidential election
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg
  1982 19 December 1988 1993  
Turnout55.32% (Decrease2.svg 25.74 pp)
  Ranasinghe Premadasa.jpeg Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranayaka (1916-2000) (Hon.Sirimavo Bandaranaike with Hon.Lalith Athulathmudali Crop).jpg
Nominee Ranasinghe Premadasa Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Party UNP SLFP
Popular vote2,569,1992,289,860
Percentage50.43%44.95%

Sri Lankan Presidential Election 1988.png
Winners of polling divisions. Premadasa in green, Bandaranaike in blue and Abeygunasekera in red.

President before election

J. R. Jayewardene
UNP

Elected President

Ranasinghe Premadasa
UNP

The 1988 Sri Lankan presidential election was the 2nd presidential election, held on 19 December 1988. Nominations were accepted on 10 November 1988. Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa of the governing United National Party was elected, receiving 50.4% of all votes cast and defeating both the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate, former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, and the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya candidate, Ossie Abeygunasekera.

Contents

The election was held amidst both the Sri Lankan Civil War and the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection. Voter turnout was only 55.32%, substantially lower than the previous election and the lowest turnout for a Sri Lankan presidential election.

Background

Under the Provisions of the Constitution, the president is elected to a six-year term and the president can call for an early presidential election after completing four years of his first term. As then-incumbent president J. R. Jayawardene was barred from seeking a third term, he decided not to call for an early election. Therefore, the election was due to be held in late 1988.

During the 1988 election, Sri Lanka was in chaos. In the north and east, soldiers of the Indian Peace Keeping Force battled Tamil Tiger rebels. In the south, government death squads engaged in deadly violence with equally brutal militants of the Sinhala-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. Effective campaigning for both the government and opposition was barely possible.

Both major party candidates promised to abrogate the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord negotiated by outgoing president J. R. Jayewardene and would ask Indian troops to leave the country.

Voting was not held in the LTTE-controlled areas of the north and east.

Results

Despite the looming threat of the JVP insurgents, UNP candidate Ranasinghe Premadasa won a narrow but firm victory.

CandidatePartyVotes%
Ranasinghe Premadasa United National Party 2,569,19950.43
Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sri Lanka Freedom Party 2,289,86044.95
Ossie Abeygunasekera Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya 235,7194.63
Total5,094,778100.00
Valid votes5,094,77898.24
Invalid/blank votes91,4451.76
Total votes5,186,223100.00
Registered voters/turnout9,375,74255.32
Source: Election Commission

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chandrika Kumaratunga</span> President of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2005

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga , commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth president of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. She previously served as the prime minister from August to November 1994 and the chief minister of the Western Province from 1993 to 1994. She is the country's first and only female president to date and the country's second female prime minister. She was the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1994 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranasinghe Premadasa</span> President of Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1993

Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa was the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 until his assassination in 1993. He also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 6 February 1978 to 2 January 1989. This makes Premadasa the longest-serving uninterrupted Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, having served in the post for nearly 11 years. He was the first person to be conferred with Sri Lanka's highest civilian award, the Sri Lankabhimanya in 1986 by President J. R. Jayewardene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranil Wickremesinghe</span> President of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024

Ranil Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. Previously, he served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 and in 2022. He held several ministerial roles, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Minister of Technology and Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment. Wickremesinghe has led the United National Party (UNP) since 1994 and has been Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on six occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United National Party</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

The United National Party is a centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party, or as part of its governing coalition, for 38 of the country's 74 years of independence, including the periods 1947–1956, 1965–1970, 1977–1994, 2001–2004 and 2015–2019. The party also controlled the executive presidency from its formation in 1978 until 1994 and again from 2022 to 2024.

Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga was the fourth President of Sri Lanka from 7 May 1993 to 12 November 1994, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 3 March 1989 to 7 May 1993 and the Governor of North Western province, Sri Lanka from 1988 to 1989. He was awarded Sri Lanka's highest award to a civilian Sri Lankabhimanya in 1993 by President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vijaya Kumaratunga</span> Sri Lankan actor, playback singer and politician (1945–1988)

Kovilage Anton Vijaya Kumaranatunga, popularly known as Vijaya Kumaratunga, was a Sri Lankan actor, playback singer and politician regarded as one of the most popular icons in Sri Lankan cinema of all time. He was married to former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaranatunga from 1978 until his assassination in 1988. He was the Founder of Sri Lanka Mahajana Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna is a leftist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and another in 1987–1989 (UNP). The motive for both uprisings was to establish a socialist state. Since then the JVP has entered mainstream democratic politics and has updated its ideology, abandoning some of its original Marxist policies such as the abolition of private property. The JVP has been led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake since 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987–1989 JVP insurrection</span> Armed revolt in Sri Lanka

The 1987–1989 JVP insurrection, also known as the 1988–1989 revolt or the JVP troubles, was an armed revolt in Sri Lanka, led by the Marxist–Leninist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, against the Government of Sri Lanka. The insurrection, like the previous one in 1971, was unsuccessful. The main phase of the insurrection was a low-intensity conflict that lasted from April 1987 to December 1989. The insurgents led by the JVP resorted to subversion, assassinations, raids, and attacks on military and civilian targets while the Sri Lankan government reacted through counter-insurgency operations to suppress the revolt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 Sri Lankan presidential election</span> 3rd Sri Lankan presidential election

The 1994 Sri Lankan presidential election was the 3rd presidential election, held on 9 November 1994. Nominations were accepted on 7 October 1994 and voter turnout was 70.47%. Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's Alliance was elected, receiving 62% of all votes cast, becoming the first female president of Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lalith Athulathmudali</span> Sri Lankan politician and statesman (1936–1993)

Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, PC, known as Lalith Athulathmudali, was a Sri Lankan politician. He was a prominent member of the United National Party, who served as Minister of Trade and Shipping; Minister National Security and Deputy Minister of Defence; Minister of Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives and finally Minister of Education. Following a failed impeachment of President Ranasinghe Premadasa, he was removed from the UNP and formed his own party, the Democratic United National Front. He was assassinated under mysterious circumstances in 1993.

Ranasinghe Premadasa, the 3rd President of Sri Lanka, was assassinated on 1 May 1993. Premadasa, along with 23 others, were killed in an explosion set off by an LTTE suicide bomber during a May Day rally held in the country's capital of Colombo. The rally was organised by Premadasa's ruling political party, the United National Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sajith Premadasa</span> Sri Lankan politician (born 1967)

Sajith Premadasa is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the current Leader of the Opposition of Sri Lanka and a Member of Parliament for the Colombo District. He is the current leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament</span>

The 1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament is an attack that took place on August 18, 1987, when an assailant hurled two grenades into a room where the Sri Lankan president, prime minister and Member of Parliament members of parliament were meeting. The grenades bounced off the table at which president J. R. Jayawardene and prime minister Ranasinghe Premadasa were sitting, and rolled away. A member of parliament and a ministry secretary were killed by the explosions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anura Kumara Dissanayake</span> President of Sri Lanka since 2024

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, commonly referred to by his initials AKD, is a Sri Lankan Marxist politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka. Dissanayake was the first Sri Lankan president to be elected in a second round of vote counting, and the first elected president not from Sri Lanka's traditional political parties.

The New Democratic Front is a political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formed in 1995 after Srimani Athulathmudali, widow of assassinated politician Lalith Athulathmudali, split from the Democratic United National Front.

The following lists events that happened during 1989 in Sri Lanka.

The following lists events that happened during 1988 in Sri Lanka.

The following lists events that happened during 1982 in Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Sri Lankan presidential election</span> 8th Sri Lankan presidential election

The 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election was the 8th presidential election, held on 16 November 2019. Incumbent president Maithripala Sirisena did not run for a second term. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was the candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and was endorsed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Sajith Premadasa, son of former president Ranasinghe Premadasa and deputy leader of the United National Party was the candidate of the ruling party.

An indirect presidential election was held in the Parliament of Sri Lanka on 7 May 1993, following the assassination of president Ranasinghe Premadasa by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Colombo. The president of Sri Lanka was elected by the Parliament of Sri Lanka in a secret ballot to decide who would complete the remainder of Premadasa's term.

References