1988 Sri Lankan presidential election
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| Turnout | 55.32%  25.74 pp | ||||||||||||||||
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 Winners of polling divisions. Premadasa in green, Bandaranaike in blue and Abeygunasekera in red. | |||||||||||||||||
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_(Hon.Sirimavo_Bandaranaike_with_Hon.Lalith_Athulathmudali_Crop).jpg)
Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 19 December 1988. Nominations were accepted on 10 November 1988. Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa of the governing United National Party was elected, receiving 50.4% of all votes cast. Voter turnout was only 55.32%, substantially lower than the previous election and the lowest turnout for a Sri Lankan presidential election.
Background
During the 1988 election, Sri Lanka was in chaos. In the north and east, soldiers of the
deadly violence with equally brutal militants of the Sinhala-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
. Effective campaigning for both the government and opposition was barely possible.
Both major party candidates promised to abrogate the
J. R. Jayewardene
and would ask Indian troops to leave the country.
Voting was not held in the
LTTE
-controlled areas of the north and east.
Results
Aided by its control of the state-owned media, the UNP candidate, Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, won a narrow but firm victory.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranasinghe Premadasa | United National Party | 2,569,199 | 50.43 | |
| Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 2,289,860 | 44.95 | |
| Ossie Abeygunasekera | Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya | 235,719 | 4.63 | |
| Total | 5,094,778 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 5,094,778 | 98.24 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 91,445 | 1.76 | ||
| Total votes | 5,186,223 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 9,375,742 | 55.32 | ||
| Source: Election Commission | ||||
References
- "Presidential Election - 19.12.1988" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- "1988 Sri Lanka Presidential Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
| Direct elections | |
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| Indirect elections | |
| Presidential | |
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| Parliamentary | |
| Provincial | |
| Local | |
| Referendums | |