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 | |
|---|---|
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| 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)[1][2] |
| 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 4 February 1978 |
| Salary | LKR 1,170,000 annually (2016) (≈ $ 7,640) [3] |
| 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
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| № | 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 | [4] | |||
| — | ||||||||||
| 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 | .jpg)
|
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 |
[4] | |
| 1982 | ||||||||||
| 10 years, 11 months and 29 days | ||||||||||
| Introduced the Executive Presidency in 1978, and assumed the position of president of Sri Lanka.[5] | ||||||||||
| 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 | [4] | |
| 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 | [4] | ||
| — | 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 |
[4] | ||
| 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 |
[4] | |
| 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 | .jpg)
|
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 1] | Sirisena (UNP backed coalition) |
18th | [4] | |
| 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 | [4] | |
| 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.[6] | ||||||||||
| 9 | 
|
Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ ரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க (1949–) Western |
13 July 2022 |
Incumbent | Prime Minister | United National Party | TBA | 20th | ||
| 2 years, 4 months and 14 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.[7] | ||||||||||
Living former presidents
| President | Term of office | Date of birth |
|---|---|---|
| Chandrika Kumaratunga | 1994–2005 4025 days |
June 29, 1945 |
| Mahinda Rajapaksa | 2005–2015 3338 days |
November 18, 1945 |
| Maithripala Sirisena | 2015–2019 1774 days |
September 3, 1951 |
| Gotabaya Rajapaksa | 2019–2022 969 days |
June 20, 1949 |
President Of Sri Lanka Media
The Presidential Secretariat, formerly Sri Lanka's Parliament building
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Notes
- ↑ Elected as a New Democratic Front candidate.
References
- ↑ President Justifies Rs 180 M Budget For Repairs His Residence. Colombotelegraph.com. 7 October 2015. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/president-justifies-rs-180-m-budget-for-repairs-his-residence/. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ↑ Hemmathagama, Ashwin (26 June 2015). PM makes mockery of MR privileges claims. Ft.lk. http://www.ft.lk/article/438005/PM-makes-mockery-of-MR-privileges-claims. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ↑ Thomas, Kris (21 November 2016). "Of Ministers' Salaries And Parliamentary Perks". Roar.lk. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "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]
- ↑ President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Resigns. 14 July 2022. https://www.hirunews.lk/english/309987/president-gotabaya-rajapaksa-resigns-letter-sent-to-speaker-of-parliament. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
- ↑ Sri Lanka live news: Ranil Wickremesinghe elected president. 20 July 2022. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2022/7/20/sri-lanka-live-news-parliamentarians-to-vote-for-new-president. Retrieved 20 July 2022.