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Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka sometime between September and October 2024, according to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Voters will elect a president for a term of five years. Incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe is eligible to run for re-election. [1]
The President of Sri Lanka is elected via limited ranked voting. Voters can express up to three ranked preferences for President. If no candidate receives over 50% of valid votes on the first count, all candidates except for the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes are eliminated. The second and third preferences of the eliminated candidates are distributed until one of the remaining two candidates receives an outright majority. [2] In practice, this system has seen little use, as each direct election going back to the first in 1981 has resulted in a candidate from one of the two major parties or alliances at the time winning in the first count. For this reason, many citizens opt to mark only one candidate, and many are wholly unaware that multiple candidates can be ranked at all. [3]
The last direct presidential elections held in Sri Lanka were in 2019, where SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election in a landslide victory, defeating his main opponent Sajith Premadasa. [4] [5] Rajapaksa would eventually resign on 14 July 2022 amidst the 2022 Sri Lankan protests. [6] This triggered an indirect presidential election via Parliament a week later, to elect a successor according to the Article 40 of the Constitution. [7] Then-incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was appointed by Rajapaksa just two months earlier, received the most votes and was sworn in as the 9th President of Sri Lanka on 21 July 2022. [8] [9]
Article 40 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka states that "Any person so succeeding to the office of President shall hold office only for the unexpired period of the term of office of the President vacating office." [10] Accordingly, the next presidential election must be held no later than November 2024.
| Sri Lankan recent election results | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates of elections | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPFA) | Samagi Jana Balawegaya | National People's Power | Tamil National Alliance | United National Party | Others | ||||||||
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| 2019 presidential election | 6,924,255 | 52.25% | － | － | 418,553 | 3.16% | － | － | 5,564,239 | 41.99% [lower-roman 1] | 345,452 | 2.35% | ||
| 2020 parliamentary election | 6,853,690 | 59.09% | 2,771,980 | 23.90% | 445,958 | 3.84% | 327,168 | 2.82% | 249,435 | 2.15% | 950,698 | 8.20% | ||
| Sri Lankan recent election results | |
|---|---|
| 2019 presidential election | 2020 parliamentary election |
 |  |
| Elected members of each electoral district or municipality, gaining the highest number of votes | |
| Candidate | Political office and constituency | Date declared | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ranil Wickremesinghe (75) United National Party | Current President of Sri Lanka (since 2022) Leader of the United National Party (since 1994) Former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2019, 2022) | 8 April 2023 | Wickremesinghe has not officially declared his candidacy, even though his party has unofficially announced it. | [1] | |
 Sajith Premadasa (57) Samagi Jana Balawegaya | Current Leader of the Opposition (since 2019) Leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (since 2020) Colombo | 16 May 2023 | [11] | ||
 Janaka Ratnayake (59) Independent | Former Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (2021–2023) Chairman and CEO of Trillium Property Management & Services Limited (since 2014) | 24 May 2023 | [12] | ||
 Anura Kumara Dissanayake (55) National People's Power | Former Minister and Chief Opposition Whip (2015–2018) Leader of the National People's Power (since 2015) Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (since 2014) Colombo | 29 August 2023 | [13] | ||
| Date | Polling firm | Dissanayake NPP | Premadasa SJB | Wickremesinghe UNP | SLPP | Lead | Margin of error | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2024 | Institute for Health Policy | 53% | 34% | 6% | 7% | 19% | ±1–4% | 16,234 |
| January 2024 | Institute for Health Policy | 50% | 36% | 7% | 7% | 14% | ±1–4% | 15,590 |
| December 2023 | Institute for Health Policy | 50% | 33% | 9% | 8% | 17% | ±1–4% | 14,941 |
| October 2023 | Institute for Health Policy | 51% | 30% | 13% | 6% | 21% | ±1–4% | 13,935 |
| September 2023 | Institute for Health Policy | 46% | 29% | 17% | 8% | 17% | ±1–3% | 13,431 |
| August 2023 | Institute for Health Policy | 38% | 35% | 18% | 9% | 3% | ±1–3% | 12,848 |
| July 2023 | Institute for Health Policy | 39% | 33% | 19% | 9% | 6% | ±1–3% | 12,269 |
| June 2023 | Institute for Health Policy | 40% | 35% | 15% | 9% | 5% | ±1–3% | 11,926 |
| May 2023 | Institute for Health Policy | 38% | 34% | 18% | 10% | 4% | ±1–4% | 11,897 |
| April 2023 | Institute for Health Policy | 45% | 37% | 13% | 6% | 8% | ±1–4% | 11,367 |
| March 2023 | Institute for Health Policy | 48% | 37% | 11% | 4% | 11% | ±1–5% | 10,601 |
In IHP SLOTS polling in January 2024, all major party candidates continued to have negative favourability ratings. The net favourability rating of NPP/JVP candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayaka increased by 12 points to -10 whilst the favourability ratings of SJB candidate Sajith Premadasa and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe each decreased by 9 points to -53 and -77 respectively. [18]
Ranil Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan politician who is the 9th and current President of Sri Lanka. He also holds several ministerial positions, including the Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Minister of Technology and Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment.
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 back in 2022.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019, and the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kurunegala since 2015.
The United National Front (UNF) later the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) was a political alliance in Sri Lanka led by the United National Party.
Sajith Premadasa is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the current Leader of the Opposition of Sri Lanka and Member of Parliament for Colombo District. He is the current leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.
Dullas Daham Kumara Alahapperuma is a Sri Lankan politician and founder and current leader of the Freedom People's Congress. Alahapperuma is also a former Cabinet Minister of Information and Mass Media and a current Member of Parliament from the Matara District.
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 Constitutional Council (CC) is a 10-member constitutional authority in Sri Lanka tasked with maintaining independent commissions and monitoring its affairs. The Constitutional Council is aimed at depoliticizing the public service.
The Sri Lanka People's Front, commonly known by its Sinhalese name Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is a political party in Sri Lanka. Previously a minor political party known as the Sri Lanka National Front (SLNF) and Our Sri Lanka Freedom Front (OSLFF), it was relaunched in 2016 as the SLPP and became the home for members of the United People's Freedom Alliance loyal to its former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.
A constitutional crisis began in Sri Lanka when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former president and member of parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister on 26 October 2018 before formally dismissing the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, resulting in two concurrent Prime Ministers. Wickremesinghe and the United National Party (UNP) viewed the appointment as illegal, and he refused to resign.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 16th Parliament. 16,263,885 people were eligible to vote in the election, 31.95% of whom were young voters.
Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 16 November 2019. The incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena's term of office would have ended on 9 January 2020. This was the first presidential election in Sri Lanka where no sitting president, prime minister or opposition leader ran for president.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya is a political alliance led by Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa. It is the largest opposition party in the Parliament of Sri Lanka since 2020.
The 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka is the current Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 2020 parliamentary election held on 5 August 2020. According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka the maximum legislative term of the parliament is 5 years from the first meeting.
An indirect presidential election was held in the Parliament of Sri Lanka on 20 July 2022 following the resignation of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 14 July. 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 Gotabaya Rajapaksa's term. Candidates were nominated in the Parliament on 19 July in advance of the election the following day.
The 2022 Sri Lankan protests, commonly known as Aragalaya, were a series of mass protests that began in March 2022 against the government of Sri Lanka. The government was heavily criticized for mismanaging the Sri Lankan economy, which led to a subsequent economic crisis involving severe inflation, daily blackouts, and a shortage of fuel, domestic gas, and other essential goods. The protesters' main demand was the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and key officials from the Rajapaksa family. Despite the involvement of several opposition parties, most protesters considered themselves to be apolitical, with many expressing discontent with the parliamentary opposition. Protesters chanted slogans such as "Go Home Gota", "Go Home Rajapaksas", and "Aragalayata Jaya Wewa". Most protests were organized by the general public, with youths playing a major part by carrying out protests at Galle Face Green.
The 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis was a political crisis in Sri Lanka due to the power struggle between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the people of Sri Lanka. It was fueled by the anti-government protests and demonstrations by the public due to the economic crisis in the country. The anti-government sentiment across various parts of Sri Lanka has triggered a state of political instability that is unprecedented in the nation's history.
The New Lanka Freedom Party is a political party in Sri Lanka which was founded by ex-SLFP politician Kumara Welgama in 2020. The party is known for its close ties with former president of Sri Lanka and former leader of the SLFP Chandrika Kumaratunga, who, like Welgama, has been a vocal critic of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The Freedom People's Congress is a political party in Sri Lanka founded by Dullas Alahapperuma, G. L. Peiris and several other former Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MPs in 2022.
Local elections have not been held in Sri Lanka since 2018. Elections were originally scheduled to be held in 2022, but were postponed to 2023 due to the worsening economic crisis and instability in the country, before being postponed again several times by the government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Currently, there is no official date scheduled for the elections.
| Direct elections | |
|---|---|
| Indirect elections | |
| Presidential | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary | |
| Provincial | |
| Local | |
| Referendums | |
