President of Sri Lanka

The President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi; Tamil: இலங்கை சனாதிபதி Ilankai janātipati) is the executive head of state and head of government of Sri Lanka and commander-in-chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

President of Sri Lanka ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe since 13 July 2022
Style	The Honourable (Informal) His Excellency (Formal and diplomatic)
Member of	Cabinet National Security Council
Residence	President's House (de jure) 61 Paget Road, Colombo 7 (de facto)
Seat	Colombo
Appointer	Direct election
Term length	Five years, renewable once
Constituting instrument	Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Precursor	Governor-General of Ceylon
Inaugural holder	William Gopallawa as the first President under the 1972 Constitution J. R. Jayewardene as the first executive President under the 1978 Constitution
Formation	22 May 1972 (1972-05-22) 4 February 1978 (1978-02-04)
Salary	LKR 1,170,000 annually (2016) (≈ $ 7,640)
Website	President Presidential Secretariat

The office was created in 1972 as the head of state and becoming the head of government in 1978. The office is the single most dominant political office in the country.

List of presidents

Parties

<span style="border:1px solid #AAAAAA; background-color:; color:;">      UNP       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		Refs
	1		William Gopallawa විලියම් ගොපල්ලව வில்லியம் கோபள்ளவா (1896–1981) Central	22 May 1972	4 February 1978		Independent	Sirimavo Bandaranaike II	10th
				—
				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
				1982
				10 years, 11 months and 29 days
				Introduced the Executive Presidency in 1978, and assumed the position of president of Sri Lanka.
	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
				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	12 November 1994		United National Party	Wijetunga	13th
				—					14th
				1 year, 6 months and 10 days
				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 බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்கே குமாரதுங்கா (1945–) Western	12 November 1994	19 November 2005		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Kumaratunga	14th 15th
				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	Rajapaksa	17th 18th
				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 Sri Lankan 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	Sirisena (UNP backed coalition)	18th
				2015					19th
				4 years, 10 months and 9 days
				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 of Sri Lanka.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	18 November 2019	14 July 2022	Minister of Defence Minister of Technology	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	Gotabaya Rajapaksa I Gotabaya Rajapaksa II	20th
				2019
				2 years, 7 months and 25 days
				Appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2019 as the prime minister after the resignation of Ranil Wickremesinghe. Reappointed Wickremesinghe in 2022, after the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa amidst anti-government protests which demanded his resignation. He promised he would resign on 13 July 2022, however he did not and instead fled the country. He would officially resign the following day. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe began serving as acting president when Rajapaksa left the country on 13 July. On 14 July, Rajapaksa resigned from presidency.
	9		Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க (1949–) Western	13 July 2022	Incumbent	Prime Minister	United National Party	TBA	20th
				2 years, 5 months and 7 days
				Succeeded to presidency in an acting capacity following Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country amidst the 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis on 13 July, despite Rajapaksa officially resigning on 14 July. He was elected to complete Rajapaksa's term on 20 July 2022.

Living former presidents

President	Term of office	Date of birth
Chandrika Kumaratunga	1994–2005 4025 days	(1945-06-29) June 29, 1945
Mahinda Rajapaksa	2005–2015 3338 days	(1945-11-18) November 18, 1945
Maithripala Sirisena	2015–2019 1774 days	(1951-09-03) September 3, 1951
Gotabaya Rajapaksa	2019–2022 969 days	(1949-06-20) June 20, 1949

President Of Sri Lanka Media

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  President's Pavilion in Kandy

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  The Presidential Secretariat, formerly Sri Lanka's Parliament building