Sri Lankan presidential election, 1999

4th Sri Lankan presidential election
Sri Lanka
21 December 1999

Turnout 73.31%
 
Nominee Chandrika Kumaratunga Ranil Wickramasinghe
Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party United National Party
Alliance People's Alliance
Home state Gampaha District Colombo District
States carried 17 5
Popular vote 4,312,157 3,602,748
Percentage 51.12% 42.71%

Winners of polling divisions. Kumaratunga in blue and Wickremasinghe in green.

President before election

Chandrika Kumaratunga
People's Alliance

Elected President

Chandrika Kumaratunga
People's Alliance

The Sri Lankan presidential election of 1999 was the fourth presidential election of Sri Lanka. Nominations were accepted on 16 November 1999, and the election was held on 21 December 1999 Electoral participation was 73.31%. Incumbent President Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's Alliance was re-elected for a second term, receiving 51% of all votes cast.

Background

Sri Lankan presidents are elected for six-year terms; with the previous election having taken place in 1994, an election normally would not have been held until 2000. Kumaratunga called the election early.

Kumaratunga campaigned to continue her actions against the Tamil Tigers, while her main opponent Ranil Wickremasinghe called for the commencement of direct negotiations with the Tigers.

Three days before the election, Kumaratunga was nearly killed by an Tamil Tiger assassination attempt at her final rally. She lost her right eye, and appeared heavily bandaged on television before the election.

Results

 Summary of the 1999 Sri Lankan presidential election[1]
Candidate Party Votes %
  Chandrika Kumaratunga People's Alliance 4,312,157 51.12%
  Ranil Wickremasinghe United National Party 3,602,748 42.71%
  Nandana Gunathilake Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 344,173 4.08%
  Harischandra Wijayatunga Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya 35,854 0.43%
  W. V. M. Ranjith Independent 27,052 0.32%
Rajiva Wijesinha Liberal Party 25,085 0.30%
  Vasudeva Nanayakkara Left & Democratic Alliance 23,668 0.28%
  Tennyson Edirisuriya Independent 21,119 0.25%
Abdul Rasool Sri Lanka Muslim Party 17,359 0.21%
Kamal Karunadasa People's Liberation Solidarity Front 11,333 0.13%
  Hudson Samarasinghe Independent 7,184 0.09%
Ariyawansa Dissanayaka Democratic United National Front 4,039 0.05%
A. W. Premawardhana People's Freedom Front 3,983 0.05%
Valid Votes 8,435,754 100.00%
Rejected Votes 199,536
Total Polled 8,635,290
Registered Electors 11,779,200
Turnout 73.31%

References

  1. "Result of Presidential Election 1999" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
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