 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 70.47% ( 15.15 pp) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Winners of polling divisions. Kumaratunga in blue and Dissanayake in green. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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.
President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated in 1993 by the Tamil Tigers and was succeeded by the Prime Minister, Dingiri Banda Wijetunga. President Wijetunga chose not to run in the 1994 election; therefore the United National Party selected Leader of the Opposition Gamini Dissanayake as their candidate. His main challenger was Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga of the People's Alliance, whose party had won the parliamentary elections earlier in 1994. [1]
On 24 October 1994, during his presidential campaign, Gamini Dissanayake was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. His name on the ballot paper was replaced by his wife Srima Dissanayake, thus making the election the first Sri Lankan presidential election in which both main party candidates were women. [1]
Kumaratunga won the election by a record margin with 62.28% of the vote. [1]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chandrika Kumaratunga | People's Alliance | 4,709,205 | 62.28 | |
| Srima Dissanayake | United National Party | 2,715,283 | 35.91 | |
| Hudson Samarasinghe | Independent | 58,886 | 0.78 | |
| Harischandra Wijayatunga | Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya | 32,651 | 0.43 | |
| A. J. Ranasinghe | Independent | 22,752 | 0.30 | |
| Nihal Galappaththi | Sri Lanka Progressive Front | 22,749 | 0.30 | |
| Total | 7,561,526 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 7,561,526 | 98.03 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 151,706 | 1.97 | ||
| Total votes | 7,713,232 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 10,945,065 | 70.47 | ||
| Source: Election Commission | ||||
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.
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.
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.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 2 April 2004. The ruling United National Party of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was defeated, winning only eighty two seats in the 225-member Sri Lankan parliament. The opposition United People's Freedom Alliance won 105 seats. While this was eight seats short of an absolute majority, the Alliance was able to form a government.
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.
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.
Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake, PC was a prominent Sri Lankan politician, a powerful minister of the United National Party, and Leader of the Opposition. He was designated as the UNP candidate in the 1994 presidential election, but was then assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The 2005 Sri Lankan presidential election was the 5th presidential election, held on 17 November 2005. Nominations were accepted on 7 September 2005 and voter turnout was 73.73%. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa of the governing United People's Freedom Alliance was elected, receiving 50.3% of all votes cast.
The 1999 Sri Lankan presidential election was the 4th presidential election, held on 21 December 1999. Nominations were accepted on 16 November 1999 and electoral participation was 73.31%. Incumbent President Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's Alliance was re-elected for a second term, receiving 51% of all votes cast.
Nambukara Helambage Rajitha Harischandra Senaratne is a Sri Lankan dentist, politician, member of parliament and former cabinet minister. He is currently a member of parliament representing Kalutara district
Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne, known as D. M. "Di Mu" Jayaratne, was a Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015. A founding member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Jayaratne was first elected to parliament in 1970. He was sworn in as prime minister on 21 April 2010.
Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Sumanaweera Banda Dissanayake, MP is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the former Cabinet Minister of Higher Education in President Mahinda Rajapakse's Government. He was the former general secretary of Sri Lanka Freedom Party and former national organiser of the United National Party. Dissanayake lost his cabinet position after Rajapaksha was defeated at the 2015 presidential election in Sri Lanka.
The 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 1994 parliamentary election held on 16 August 1994. The parliament met for the first time on 25 August 1994 and was dissolved on 18 August 2000.
The following lists events that happened during 1988 in Sri Lanka.
The following lists events that happened during 1993 in Sri Lanka.
The following lists events that happened during 1994 in Sri Lanka.
Vajira Srimathi Dissanayake was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and 1994 UNP presidential candidate.
On December 18, 1999, the 5th President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, was wounded in a coordinated bomb blast that was attempting to take her life. Kumaratunga had been president for one-term, and was campaigning for her second term in office in the 1999 presidential election. Upon leaving her final election rally at Town Hall in the country's capital of Colombo, she was caught in an explosive attack planned by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
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.
On 24 October 1994, Sri Lankan parliamentarian Gamini Dissanayake was assassinated by a suicide bomber sent by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Dissanayake was Leader of the Opposition in parliament, and the United National Party's nominee for that year's presidential election. The explosion, set off at a late-night campaign rally in northern Colombo, killed a total of 52 and injured more than 200, with 75 sustaining serious injuries. Among the dead were several other key members of Dissanayake's party.
| Presidential | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary | |
| Provincial | |
| Local | |
| Referendums | |
