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The president of Sri Lanka is the elected head of state and the chief executive. The president is a dominant political figure in Sri Lanka. The office was created in 1972, as more of a ceremonial position. It was empowered with executive powers by the 1978 Constitution introduced by J. R. Jayewardene.

Presidents

Parties

  United National Party   Sri Lanka Freedom Party   Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna   Independent

No.		Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Home province	Term of office Electoral mandates Time in office		Other ministerial offices held while president	Political party of president	Government		Ref.
	1		William Gopallawa විලියම් ගොපල්ලව வில்லியம் கோபள்ளவா (1896–1981) Central	22 May 1972	4 February 1978		Independent	Sirimavo Bandaranaike II	10th	[1]
				—
				5 years, 8 months and 13 days
				Served as the last Governor-General of Ceylon and the first (non-executive) President when Ceylon declared itself a republic in 1972, and changed its name to Sri Lanka.
	2		Junius Richard Jayewardene ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா (1906–1996) Western	4 February 1978	2 January 1989	Minister of Defence Minister of Planning & Economic Affairs Minister of Plan Implementation Minister of Higher Education	United National Party	Jayewardene	11th 12th	[1]
				1982
				10 years, 11 months and 29 days
				Introduced the Executive Presidency in 1978, and assumed the position of president of Sri Lanka.[2]
	3		Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா (1924–1993) Western	2 January 1989	1 May 1993†	Minister of Defence Minister of Buddha Sasana Minister of Minister of Policy Planning & Implementation	United National Party	Premadasa	13th	[1]
				1988
				4 years and 4 months
				Assassinated during a May Day rally by an LTTE suicide bomber.
	4		Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga ඩිංගිරි බණ්ඩා විජේතුංග டிங்கிரி பண்ட விஜேதுங்க (1916–2008) Central	1 May 1993	7 May 1993	Minister of Defence Minister of Finance Minister of Buddhist Affairs	United National Party	Wijetunga I	13th	[1]
				7 May 1993	12 November 1994
				1993[N 1]				Wijetunga II	14th
				1 year, 6 months and 10 days
				Prime Minister at the time of Premadasa's assassination. Appointed as acting president and continued in that capacity until 7 May 1993 when he was elected by Parliament to the office of president under Article 40 of the Constitution.
	5		Chandrika Kumaratunga චන්ද්‍රිකා කුමාරතුංග சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்கே குமாரதுங்கா (1945–) Western	12 November 1994	19 November 2005		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Kumaratunga	14th 15th	[1]
				1994, 1999					16th
				11 years and 7 days					17th
				The first non-UNP president of the country. Appointed her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, to succeed her as prime minister. Victim of multiple assassination attempts by the LTTE, all of which were unsuccessful.
	6		Mahinda Rajapaksa මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ (1945–) Southern	19 November 2005	9 January 2015	Minister of Defence Minister of Finance Minister of Law & Order Minister of Highways, Ports & Shipping	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Mahinda Rajapaksa	17th 18th	[1]
				2005, 2010
				9 years, 1 month and 21 days
				Ended the 25-year-long Sri Lankan Civil War and LTTE insurgency in the country. Alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War, various infrastructure development projects, feud with Sarath Fonseka, introduced the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, impeached Shirani Bandaranayake. Defeated in 2015.
	7		Maithripala Sirisena මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන மைத்திரிபால சிறிசேன (1951–) North Central	9 January 2015	18 November 2019	Minister of Defence Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment	Sri Lanka Freedom Party[N 2]	Sirisena (UNP backed coalition)	18th	[1]
				2015					19th
				4 years, 10 months and 9 days
				Defeated Rajapaksa in his unprecedented bid for a third term. Ran as a candidate of the New Democratic Front and was mainly backed by the UNP. 19th Amendment to the Constitution. 100-day reform program. Reinstated Shirani Bandaranayake as Chief Justice. Promoted Sarath Fonseka to the rank of Field Marshal. Failed to act on intelligence of the 2019 Easter bombings.
	8		Gotabaya Rajapaksa ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ (1949–) Southern[3]	18 November 2019	14 July 2022	Minister of Defence Minister of Technology	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	Rajapaksa I	19th	[1]
				2019				Rajapaksa II	20th
								Rajapaksa III
				2 years, 7 months and 26 days				Rajapaksa IV
				Appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. Amassed extensive presidential powers through the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. Economic mismanagement led the country to an economic crisis, and a subsequent political crisis, when he refused to resign in response to massive anti-government protests. Reappointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister in May 2022, following Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation. Resigned on 14 July, after fleeing the country the day before, designating Wickremesinghe as acting president.[4][5][6][7]
	9		Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க (1949–) Western	14 July 2022	20 July 2022	Minister of Defence Minister of Technology Minister of Finance Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment	United National Party	Wickremesinghe	20th	[8]
				20 July 2022	Incumbent
				2022[N 1]
				1 year, 7 months and 16 days
				Appointed as acting president following the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country amidst the 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis.[9] On 20 July 2022 he was elected by Parliament to the office of president under Article 40 of the Constitution.

Timeline