Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga , commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fourth executive 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) until the end of 2005.
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.
Major General Vanigamuni Indrajith Vijeyakumar Mendis Wimalaratne, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer. One of the most distinguished field commanders in Sri Lanka, Wimalaratne raised the Gajaba Regiment, he commanded the 1st Brigade during the Vadamarachchi Operation, he commanded the Amphibious Task Force Commander during Operation Balavegaya and was the Commander Security Forces – Jaffna at the time of his death in a land mine explosion at Point Arali in the Kayts Island while making preparations to re-capture Jaffna.
Kovilage Anton Vijaya Kumaranatunga, popularly known as Vijaya Kumaratunga, was a Sri Lankan actor, playback singer and a 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.
Anura Priyadarshi Solomon Dias Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan politician, served as Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (2000-2001) and Leader of the Opposition (1983–1988). He held several cabinet ministries as Foreign Minister briefly in 2005, Minister of Higher Education (1993–1994), Minister of Tourism, Minister of National Heritage (2007) and he last served as a member of parliament from the opposition.
The Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya is a political party in Sri Lanka, founded in 1984 by Vijaya Kumaranatunga.
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.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 16 August 1994. They marked the decisive end of seventeen years of United National Party rule and a revival of Sri Lankan democracy.
Gaasinather Gangaser Ponnambalam was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. Leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, he was a presidential candidate in 1982. He was shot dead in January 2000 in an assassination many suspect to be ordered by President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
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
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, MP, also known by his initials AKD, is a Sri Lankan socialist politician. He is a Member of Parliament from the Colombo District, the current party leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the National People's Power. A former presidential candidate in 2019, he has been named as the National People's Power presidential candidate for the 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election.
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera is a Sri Lankan academic, geopolitics and foreign policy analyst. He is a political columnist and author. He is a visiting professor for geopolitics and global leadership at Northern Kentucky University and a visiting lecturer in International Political Economy for The University of London in Sri Lanka Royal Institute of Colombo and teaches at the International Security at University of Colombo. Abeyagoonasekera has more than a decade of experience in government administration, serving as the head of several government institutions to positions at the board level. His commentaries on International Relations and Geopolitics are published by Observer Research Foundation New Delhi, London School of Economics and South Asia Journal. Abeyagoonasekera writes the monthly column Dateline Colombo for IPCS think tank in New Delhi.
The following lists events that happened during 1988 in Sri Lanka.
The following lists events that happened during 1994 in Sri Lanka.
The following lists events that happened during 1999 in Sri Lanka.
The Batalanda detention centre was an alleged detention centre located within the Batalanda Housing Scheme of the State Fertiliser Corporation in the village of Butalanda. It was used by the Counter Subversive Unit of the Sri Lanka Police during the 1987–89 JVP insurrection to detain persons who were linked to or suspected to have links to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), as part of the counterinsurgency campaign launched by the United National Party (UNP) government led by President Ranasinghe Premadasa.
Vijaya Kumaratunga, Sri Lankan politician and founder of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya, was assassinated by an assassin of the militant organization Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya (DJV) on February 16, 1988, while attempting to leave his home in Polhengoda in Colombo.
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.
