2019 Sri Lankan presidential election
← 2015 16 November 2019 2022 →
Turnout83.72% (Increase2.20pp)
 
Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa Sajith Premadasa
Party SLPP UNP
Alliance SLPFA NDF
Popular vote 6,924,255 5,564,239
Percentage 52.25% 41.99%
Results by polling division
President before election

Maithripala Sirisena
SLFP

Elected President

Gotabaya Rajapaksa
SLPP

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 16 November 2019.[1][2] 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. Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election in a landslide victory, defeating his main opponent Sajith Premadasa.[3]

The results, announced on 17 November 2019, were that Rajapaksa had crossed the majority mark to win the election.[4] The next presidential elections are scheduled for 2024. The parliament of Sri Lanka elected a successor president in 2022 after Rajapaksa's resignation.

Electoral system

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.[5] 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.[6]

Timeline

2018
2019

Prior to the election

Sri Lankan recent election results
Dates of elections United National Party
(UNFGG) 		Sri Lanka Freedom Party
(UPFA) 		Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Tamil National Alliance Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Independents
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
2015 presidential election 6,217,162 51.28% [i] 5,768,090 47.58% － － － － － － － － － －
2015 parliamentary election 5,098,916 45.66% [ii] 4,732,664 42.38% － － 515,963 4.62% 543,944 4.87% 44,193 0.40% 42,828 0.38%
2018 local elections 3,640,620 29.42% 1,497,234 12.10% 5,006,837 40.47% 337,877 2.73% 710,932 5.75% 92,897[iii] 0.75% 374,132 3.02%
Sri Lankan political map prior to this election
Presidential election, 2015 Parliamentary election, 2015
Elected members of each electoral district or municipalities, gaining the highest number of votes:
  United People's Freedom Alliance
  United National Party/United National Front for Good Governance/New Democratic Front
  Tamil National Alliance

Poll prediction

Both main candidates have had their own surveys carried out with the results claiming victory for each of them.[43] Earlier circulated polls prediction which was claimed done by National Intelligence Service was proved false and manipulated.[44]

Nominations

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)

After the massive victory they won in Local Elections, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna intended to run for the presidential election, with Chamal, Basil and Gotabaya all being mentioned as credible prospects.[45][46] Calls for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to run were made even though he was ineligible to run due to his possession of foreign citizenship.[47] Basil Rajapaksa also held foreign citizenship and was therefore ineligible.[45] On 12 January Gotabaya announced he was ready to run in the elections if he had the support for it,[48][49] though his announcement stunned senior SLPP leaders.

Chamal Rajapaksa had also signaled his potential candidacy saying he would "willingly consider it if the party nominates him as the next presidential candidate", soon after the announcement made by his brother. Chamal Rajapaksa could not decide whether to contest from the SLFP or the SLPP but preferred a candidate that has the support of both. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was a leading figure in the war victory of Sri Lanka and the development process of the Colombo metro region and the Northern Province.[50][51][52]

In March, Chamal denied that neither him nor Basil would contest but avoided commenting about Gotabaya. Meanwhile, the SLPP announced that they favoured Gotabaya unless someone better is found.[53]

Gotabaya Rajapaksa already had a well organized campaign promoting him and according to D. B. S Jeyaraj, the Rajapaksa family had chosen to support Gotabaya as the candidate and is renouncing his US citizenship.[54]

Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced he would run for presidency on 11 April, six days after the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[14] On 11 August Mahinda Rajapaksa and the SLPP officially announced that his brother Gotabaya would be its presidential candidate, while Mahinda would run as his Prime Ministerial candidate.[15][55][56]

United National Party (UNP)

The United National Party did not field a presidential candidate in either the 2010 and 2015 elections and supported a common candidate in both elections. Even though they won the 2015 election and elected Maithripala Sirisena from their support, UNP expenditure for the election period is 500lkr million relations between the president and the UNP was shaky from the beginning. The power struggle between the president and UNP prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe led to the 2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis. In the aftermath of the events, most of the UNP members publicly expressed their regret supporting a common candidate in 2015 and promised to field their own presidential candidate in the 2019 elections.[citation needed]

Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was the obvious choice for the candidacy and he reportedly expressed his intentions to run for the presidency in a meeting with other senior members.[19] Meanwhile, several rebel MPs including Mangala Samaraweera, Harin Fernando, Ajith Perera, Harsha de Silva and Sujeewa Senasinghe wanted deputy leader Sajith Premadasa as the UNP candidate, and organized a rally in Badulla where Premadasa himself openly expressed his intentions to be the UNP candidate[57]

With the growing support for the deputy leader Sajith Premadasa and party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe refusing to make a move, speaker of the parliament Karu Jayasuriya released a statement signaling his intention to run for presidency to end the confusion and avoid a rift within the party[58] However, the Sajith faction showed that they had the popular support among party members and followers by organizing successful rallies in Matara[59] Kurunegala[60] and Matugama.[61]

On 26 September 2019, the working committee of the United National Party unanimously picked Sajith Premadasa as the UNP presidential candidate. Announcing the official statement, general Secretary of the UNP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam told that Ranil Wickremesinghe will continue to function as the Prime Minister and the leader of the UNP.[citation needed]

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)

President and leader of the SLFP Maithripala Sirisena was eligible to run for a second term. Although he had previously stated that he would only serve a single term, after being sworn in in 2015, he had since expressed his desire to stay for a second term.[62][63] However, with many party seniors choosing to support the newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna led by former SLFP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, the SLFP was weakened and suffered a heavy loss in the 2018 Sri Lankan local elections, thus losing the credibility it had as the main opposition to the UNP.[citation needed]

The SLFP pledged to support SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 9 October.[33]

National People's Power (NPP)

The National People's Power party announced Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka as their candidate in a massive rally on 18 August at Galle Face.[64][65]

Candidates

35 candidates submitted their nominations on 7 October to the election commission.[66]

Candidate Party Supported by Notes

Sajith Premadasa
New Democratic Front

Gotabaya Rajapaksa 		Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
  • Brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa
  • Secretary for the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development (2005–2015)
Anura Kumara Dissanayaka
Anura Kumara Dissanayaka 		National People's Power
  • Leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (2014–present)
  • Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation (2004–2005)
  • Chief Opposition Whip (2015–2018)
Mahesh Senanayake National People's Party
  • Former Commander of Sri Lanka Army (2017–2019)

Ajantha Perera 		Socialist Party of Sri Lanka
  • Founder, National Programme on Recycling of Solid Waste[67][68]
Rohan Pallewatte National Development Front
  • Executive Chairman of Lanka Harness Co. (Pvt) Ltd
Duminda Nagamuwa Frontline Socialist Party
  • Propaganda Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party.
  • Previously ran in 2015.

Jayantha Ketagoda 		Independent
Siripala Amarasinghe[70] Independent
Aparekke Punnananda Thero Independent
Saman Perera Our Power of People Party
Ariyawansa Dissanayake Democratic United National Front

Siritunga Jayasuriya 		United Socialist Party
Milroy Fernando Independent
Bedde Gamage Nandimithra Nava Sama Samaja Party
Vajirapani Wijesiriwardene Socialist Equality Party
Sarath Manamendra New Sinhala Heritage
A. S. P. Liyanage Sri Lanka Labour Party
Samansiri Herath Independent
Sarath Keerthirathna Independent
Anuruddha Polgampola Independent
Samaraweera Weeravanni Independent
Ashoka Wadigamangawa Independent
Battaramulle Seelarathana Thero Jana Setha Peramuna
Illiyas Idroos Mohamed Independent
Piyasiri Wijenayake Independent
Rajiva Wijesinha Independent
Aruna De Soyza Democratic National Movement
Ajantha de Zoysa Ruhunu Janatha Peramuna
Namal Rajapaksa Nationalities Unity Organization
M. K. Shivajilingam Independent
M. L. A. M. Hizbullah Independent
Priyantha Edirisinghe Okkoma Wasiyo Okkoma Rajawaru Sanwidhanaya
Hassan Mohamed Alavi Independent
Subramanium Gunaratnam Our National Front

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Gotabaya RajapaksaSri Lanka Podujana Peramuna6,924,25552.25
Sajith PremadasaNew Democratic Front5,564,23941.99
Anura Kumara DissanayakaNational People's Power418,5533.16
Mahesh SenanayakeNational People's Party49,6550.37
M. L. A. M. HizbullahIndependent38,8140.29
Ariyawansa DissanayakeDemocratic United National Front34,5370.26
Ajantha PereraSocialist Party of Sri Lanka27,5720.21
Rohan PallewatteNational Development Front25,1730.19
Siripala AmarasingheIndependent15,2850.12
Milroy FernandoIndependent13,6410.10
M. K. ShivajilingamIndependent12,2560.09
Battaramulle SeelarathanaJana Setha Peramuna11,8790.09
Ajantha de ZoysaRuhunu Janatha Peramuna11,7050.09
Anuruddha PolgampolaIndependent10,2190.08
Namal RajapaksaNational Unity Alliance9,4970.07
Jayantha KetagodaIndependent9,4670.07
Duminda NagamuwaFrontline Socialist Party8,2190.06
Aparekke PunnanandaIndependent7,6110.06
Subramanium GunaratnamOur National Front7,3330.06
A. S. P. LiyanageSri Lanka Labour Party6,4470.05
Piyasiri WijenayakeIndependent4,6360.03
Aruna de ZoysaDemocratic National Movement4,2180.03
Rajiva WijesinhaIndependent4,1460.03
Illiyas Idroos MohamedIndependent3,9870.03
Siritunga JayasuriyaUnited Socialist Party3,9440.03
Sarath KeerthirathnaIndependent3,5990.03
Sarath ManamendraNew Sinhala Heritage3,3800.03
Pani WijesiriwardeneSocialist Equality Party3,0140.02
Ashoka WadigamangawaIndependent2,9240.02
A. H. M. AlaviIndependent2,9030.02
Saman PereraOur Power of People Party2,3680.02
Priyantha EdirisingheOkkoma Wesiyo Okkoma Rajawaru Sanwidhanaya2,1390.02
Samaraweera WeerawanniIndependent2,0670.02
Bedde Gamage NandimithraNava Sama Samaja Party1,8410.01
Samansiri HerathIndependent9760.01
Total13,252,499100.00
Valid votes13,252,49998.99
Invalid/blank votes135,4521.01
Total votes13,387,951100.00
Registered voters/turnout15,992,09683.72
Source: Election Commission

By district

Districts won by Rajapaksa
Districts won by Premadasa
Summary of the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election by electoral district[71]
Electoral
District		 Province Rajapaksa Premadasa Others Total
Valid		 Rejected
Votes		 Total
Polled		 Registered
Electors		 Turnout
Votes % Votes % Votes %
Ampara Eastern 135,058 32.82% 259,673 63.09% 16,839 4.09% 411,570 3,158 414,728 503,790 82.32%
Anuradhapura North Central 342,223 58.97% 202,348 34.87% 35,775 6.16% 580,346 4,916 585,262 682,450 85.76%
Badulla Uva 276,211 49.29% 251,706 44.92% 32,428 5.79% 560,345 6,978 567,323 657,766 86.25%
Batticaloa Eastern 38,460 12.68% 238,649 78.70% 26,112 8.61% 303,221 4,258 307,479 398,301 77.20%
Colombo Western 727,713 53.19% 559,921 40.92% 80,543 5.89% 1,368,177 15,333 1,383,510 1,670,403 82.82%
Galle Southern 466,148 64.26% 217,401 29.97% 41,809 5.76% 725,358 5,878 731,236 858,749 85.15%
Gampaha Western 855,870 59.28% 494,671 34.26% 93,259 6.46% 1,443,800 15,751 1,459,551 1,751,892 83.31%
Hambantota Southern 278,804 66.17% 108,906 25.85% 33,664 7.99% 421,374 3,179 424,553 485,786 87.40%
Jaffna Northern 23,261 6.24% 312,722 83.86% 36,930 9.90% 372,913 11,251 384,164 564,714 68.03%
Kalutara Western 482,920 59.49% 284,213 35.01% 44,630 5.50% 811,763 6,847 818,610 955,079 85.71%
Kandy Central 471,502 50.43% 417,355 44.64% 46,018 4.92% 934,875 9,020 943,895 1,111,860 84.89%
Kegalle Sabaragamuwa 320,484 55.66% 228,032 39.60% 27,315 4.74% 575,831 5,152 580,983 676,440 85.89%
Kurunegala North Western 652,278 57.90% 416,961 37.01% 57,371 5.09% 1,126,610 8,522 1,135,132 1,331,705 85.24%
Matale Central 187,821 55.37% 134,291 39.59% 17,109 5.04% 339,221 3,252 342,473 401,496 85.30%
Matara Southern 374,481 67.25% 149,026 26.76% 33,361 5.99% 556,868 3,782 560,650 652,417 85.93%
Monaragala Uva 208,814 65.34% 92,539 28.95% 18,251 5.71% 319,604 3,000 322,604 366,524 88.02%
Nuwara Eliya Central 175,823 36.87% 277,913 58.28% 23,128 4.85% 476,864 7,155 484,019 569,028 85.06%
Polonnaruwa North Central 147,340 53.01% 112,473 40.47% 18,111 6.52% 277,924 2,563 280,487 326,443 85.92%
Puttalam North Western 230,760 50.83% 199,356 43.91% 23,860 5.26% 453,976 4,478 458,454 599,042 76.53%
Ratnapura Sabaragamuwa 448,044 59.93% 264,503 35.38% 35,124 4.70% 747,671 5,853 753,524 864,978 87.11%
Trincomalee Eastern 54,135 23.39% 166,841 72.10% 10,434 4.51% 231,410 1,832 233,242 281,114 82.97%
Vanni Northern 26,105 12.27% 174,739 82.12% 11,934 5.61% 212,778 3,294 216,072 282,119 76.59%
Total 6,924,255 52.25% 5,564,239 41.99% 764,005 5.76% 13,252,499 135,452 13,387,951 15,992,096 83.72%

Maps

Aftermath

Resignations

Minister Mangala Samaraweera informed President Maithripala Sirisena via a letter that he would step down as Minister of Finance with immediate effect. In the letter, minister Samaraweera stated that the 2019 election was the most peaceful and fair election held in the recent past.[72]

In a tweet, Minister Harin Fernando said, respecting the people's mandate, he will step down as Minister of Sports, Telecommunications and Foreign Employment. He will also be resigning from his positions at the United National Party. “I take this opportunity to thank every one who supported me in my tenure, hope good work done will be continued”, he added.[72]

Non-Cabinet Minister Ajith P. Perera said, respecting the mandate of the people of Sri Lanka, that he has decided to resign from his position as the Minister of Digital Infrastructure and IT with immediate effect. Tagging Sajith Premadasa he added, “It was a well fought battle”, “and the country needs your leadership at this critical time”.[72]

State Minister Ruwan Wijewardene congratulated Gotabaya Rajapaksa via Twitter for his victory in the election and said he will step down as State Minister of Defence. “I hope we will be able to build a nation free of division that unites all communities to take this country forward,” he added.[72]

Minister Kabir Hashim decided after the results were announced to resign as the Chairman of the United National Party and as the Minister of Highways, Road Development and Petroleum Resources Development.[72]

Issuing a statement, Minister Malik Samarawickrama said he will step down as Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade.[73]

Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Patali Champika Ranawaka, resigned from his ministerial portfolio. In a letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, he stated that he took this decision with respect to the people's mandate.[74]

International reactions

Supranational bodies
Nations

See also

Notes

  1. ^ New Democratic Front candidate led by the United National Party
  2. ^ United National Front for Good Governance figures
  3. ^ The SLMC contested separately in 46 LA's and with the UNF in other LA's.

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External links

Sri Lankan presidential elections
Elections and referendums in Sri Lanka
Gotabaya Rajapaksa
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