List of presidents of Sri Lanka

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[edit]

Parties

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

	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	File:William Gopallawa.jpg	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
			Was 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			Wijetunga I	13th
			1993^{[N 1]}				Wijetunga II	14th
			1 year, 6 months and 10 days				Wijetunga II	14th
			Prime Minister at the time of Ranasinghe Premadasa's assassination by LTTE. 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 LTTE, which were all unsuccessful.
6		Mahinda Rajapaksa මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ மகிந்த ராசபக்ச (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, Infrastructure Development, Feud with Sarath Fonseka, Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, Impeachment of Shirani Bandaranayake, Defeated in 2015 elections.
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					19th
			Defeated Rajapaksa in his bid for unprecedented third term. Mainly backed by United National Party and other opposition parties nominated under New Democratic Front (Sri Lanka). Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. 100-day reform program. Reinstated Shirani Bandaranayake as Chief Justice. Promoted Sarath Fonseka to the rank of Field Marshal. Reset foreign relations with India and the United States.
8		Gotabaya Rajapaksa ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ச (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
			2019				Rajapaksa III
			2 years, 7 months and 26 days				Rajapaksa IV
			Appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as the 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 on the 13th, 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, 2 months and 26 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.

Living former presidents[edit]

President	Term of office	Date of birth
Chandrika Kumaratunga	1994–2005 11 years, 7 days	(1945-06-29) 29 June 1945 (age 78)
Mahinda Rajapaksa	2005–2015 9 years, 51 days	(1945-11-18) 18 November 1945 (age 77)
Maithripala Sirisena	2015–2019 4 years, 313 days	(1951-09-03) 3 September 1951 (age 72)
Gotabaya Rajapaksa	2019–2022 2 years, 238 days	(1949-06-20) 20 June 1949 (age 74)

The most recent death of a former president was that of Dingiri Banda Wijetunga (1993–1994) on 21 September 2008, aged 92.

Timeline[edit]

Notes[edit]

^ ^a ^b Indirect election by parliarment.
^ Elected as a New Democratic Front candidate.

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Heads of State". Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
^ "Former Sri Lanka president dies, leaves mixed legacy". CNN. 1 November 1996. Retrieved 4 October 2008.^{[dead link]}
^ "Presidential candidates cast their votes". News First. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
^ Pathi, Krutika (13 July 2022). "Thousands protest against Sri Lanka's new acting president". Associated Press. Colombo. Retrieved 14 July 2022. 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.
^ Marian, Teena (14 July 2022). "Speaker yet to receive GRs resignation". News First. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
^ Jayasinghe, Uditha (14 July 2022). "Sri Lanka awaits president's resignation after flight". Reuters. Colombo. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
^ "Sri Lanka Crisis LIVE Updates: Gotabaya Rajapaksa steps down as president, emails resignation letter to parliament speaker". Times Of India. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
^ Gunasekara, Skandha; Schmall, Emily; Mashal, Mujib (14 July 2022). "Sri Lanka's President Resigns After Months of Protest". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
^ Sri Lanka PM Wickremesinghe sworn in as acting president - govt official

External links[edit]

General

[:0-3] Indirect election by parliarment.

[4] Elected as a New Democratic Front candidate.

[Heads_of_State-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Heads of State". Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 29 December 2013.

[2] "Former Sri Lanka president dies, leaves mixed legacy". CNN. 1 November 1996. Retrieved 4 October 2008.^{[dead link]}

[5] "Presidential candidates cast their votes". News First. Retrieved 2019-12-02.

[6] Pathi, Krutika (13 July 2022). "Thousands protest against Sri Lanka's new acting president". Associated Press. Colombo. Retrieved 14 July 2022. 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.

[7] Marian, Teena (14 July 2022). "Speaker yet to receive GRs resignation". News First. Retrieved 14 July 2022.

[8] Jayasinghe, Uditha (14 July 2022). "Sri Lanka awaits president's resignation after flight". Reuters. Colombo. Retrieved 14 July 2022.

[9] "Sri Lanka Crisis LIVE Updates: Gotabaya Rajapaksa steps down as president, emails resignation letter to parliament speaker". Times Of India. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.

[Gunasekara_14_July_2022-10] Gunasekara, Skandha; Schmall, Emily; Mashal, Mujib (14 July 2022). "Sri Lanka's President Resigns After Months of Protest". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2022.

[11] Sri Lanka PM Wickremesinghe sworn in as acting president - govt official

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