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 Sri Lankaportal |
The president of Sri Lanka is the elected head of state and the chief executive of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). The president is a dominant political figure in the country. 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.
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 (born 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 (born 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 (born 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 (born 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 (born 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, 9 months and 8 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. | ||||||||||
Sri Lanka is a unitary multi-party semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament.
The president of Sri Lanka is the head of state and head of government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The president is the chief executive of the union government and the commander-in-chief of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.
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.
Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is a former Sri Lankan politician and military officer, who served as the eighth President of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his resignation on 14 July 2022 due to months of public anger. He previously served as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development from 2005 to 2015 under the administration of his elder brother former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during the final phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
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 Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, who is the constitutional chief executive. The Cabinet is collectively held accountable to parliament for their policies and actions.
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.
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 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.
The following lists notable events that took place during the year 2022 in Sri Lanka.
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 fourth Gotabaya Rajapaksa cabinet, also known as the Rajapaksa-Wickremesinghe cabinet, was the central government of Sri Lanka led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It was formed in May 2022 following the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new Prime Minister and ended in July 2022 following Rajapaksa's resignation.
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.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a Sri Lankan politician and former military officer who served as the 8th president of Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2022, initiated a self-imposed exile on 13 July 2022, following widespread protests led by civilians demanding his resignation, triggered by extensive discontent over his handling of the country's economic crisis.
The inauguration of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the 8th executive president of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka took place on Thursday, 21 July 2022. This officially marked the beginning of Wickremesinghe's term in office, which will conclude in November 2024.
The Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya or Supreme Lanka Coalition is a political alliance in Sri Lanka formed in 2022. The coalition is made up of seven Sri Lankan leftist and nationalist parties who were formerly part of the SLPP-led Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance, before defecting to the opposition amidst the 2022 economic crisis and political crisis. The first conference of the alliance was held on 4 September, 2022. Leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF) and former cabinet minister Wimal Weerawansa is the chairman of the Supreme Lanka Coalition. The alliance has 15 seats in the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled on a military jet on Wednesday after angry protesters seized his home and office, and appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president while he is overseas.
