1994 Sri Lankan presidential election

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1994 Sri Lankan presidential election
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg
  1993 9 November 1994 1999  
Turnout70.47% (Increase2.svg 15.15pp)
  Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga As The President of Sri Lanka.jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Chandrika Kumaratunga Srima Dissanayake
Party SLFP UNP
Alliance People's Alliance
Popular vote4,709,2052,715,283
Percentage62.28%35.91%

Sri Lankan Presidential Election 1994.png
Results by polling division

President before election

Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
UNP

Elected President

Chandrika Kumaratunga
SLFP

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 9 November 1994. Nominations were accepted on 7 October 1994 and voter turnout was 70%. Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's Alliance was elected, receiving 62% of the vote and becoming the first female president of Sri Lanka.

Contents

Background

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]

Results

Kumaratunga won the election by a record margin with 62.28% of the vote. [1]

CandidatePartyVotes%
Chandrika Kumaratunga People's Alliance 4,709,20562.28
Srima Dissanayake United National Party 2,715,28335.91
Hudson SamarasingheIndependent58,8860.78
Harischandra Wijayatunga Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya 32,6510.43
A. J. Ranasinghe Independent22,7520.30
Nihal Galappaththi Sri Lanka Progressive Front 22,7490.30
Total7,561,526100.00
Valid votes7,561,52698.03
Invalid/blank votes151,7061.97
Total votes7,713,232100.00
Registered voters/turnout10,945,06570.47
Source: Election Commission

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Results of past presidential elections in Sri Lanka" (PDF). People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2009-08-22.