1982 Sri Lankan presidential election

none Sri Lanka presidential 1988 Sri Lankan presidential election 1988 20 October 1982 81.06% J. R. Jayawardene, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on June 20, 1984.jpg J. R. Jayewardene United National Party 3,450,811 52.91% Hector Kobbekaduwa Sri Lanka Freedom Party 2,548,438 39.07% Wahlbezirkskarte Präsidentschaft Sri_Lanka 1982.svg Results by polling division President J. R. Jayewardene J. R. Jayewardene United National Party United National Party Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka for the first time on 20 October 1982. Incumbent president J. R. Jayewardene of the governing United National Party was re-elected, receiving 53% of all valid votes cast, defeating his main opponent Hector Kobbekaduwa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.Selbourne David 1983 The Sri Lankan elections, Oct.–Dec. 1982 https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0261-3794%2883%2990062-8 Electoral Studies en 2 2 175–177 10.1016/0261-3794(83)90062-8 0261-3794 subscription Samarasinghe S. W. R. de A. 1983 Sri Lanka in 1982: A Year of Elections https://www.jstor.org/stable/2644347 Asian Survey 23 2 158–164 10.2307/2644347 2644347 0004-4687 subscription Background After winning a landslide victory in the 1977 parliamentary elections, prime minister J. R. Jayawardene introduced the executive presidency through the 2nd Amendment to the Republican Constitution of 1972. Consequently, Jayawardene was inaugurated as the 1st Executive President of Sri Lanka on 4 February 1978.Biography https://jrjc.lk/biography/ 2025-11-09 J.R. Jayewardene Centre en-US As soon as he assumed office, Jayawardene introduced the 2nd Republican Constitution of 1978, which came into effect on 7 September 1978. Under the provisions of the 1978 Constitution, the president was elected to a six-year term. Since Jayawardene's first term began on 4 February 1978, presidential elections were initially scheduled between 4 December 1983 and 4 January 1984.Constitution of Sri Lanka https://www.srilankalaw.lk/revised-statutes/constitution-of-sri-lanka.html 2025-11-09 www.srilankalaw.lk However, Jayawardene passed the 3rd Amendment to the Constitution on 27 August 1982, which enabled the president to call for an early presidential election after completing four years of their first term. Since Jayawardene completed the first four years of his first term on 4 February 1982, he decided to call an early presidential election and sought reelection for a second term. The election date was scheduled for 20 October 1982. Nominations were accepted from 8:00 am to 11:00 am (IST) on 17 September 1982 at the Election Commission. The notification for the election date was issued via Extraordinary Gazette No. 211/2 on 20 September 1982. Electoral system The President of Sri Lanka is elected through a system of limited ranked voting. Voters can express up to three ranked preferences for the presidency. If no candidate receives more than 50% of all valid votes in the first count, all candidates except the two who received the highest number of votes are eliminated. The second and third preference votes of the eliminated candidates are then redistributed to the remaining two candidates until one of them secures an outright majority.Wayback Machine https://elections.gov.lk/web/wp-content/uploads/publication/acts/15-1981_E.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20250721040119/https://elections.gov.lk/web/wp-content/uploads/publication/acts/15-1981_E.pdf 2025-07-21 2025-11-09 elections.gov.lk Campaign The election was seen as a battle between capitalism and socialism. Kobbekaduwa, supporting the policies of the previous SLFP-led government under Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was expected to reverse many of the open-market and capitalist reforms introduced by president Jayewardene.https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/20/world/election-in-sri-lanka-capitalism-versus-socialism.html Election in Sri Lanka: Capitalism Versus Socialism The New York Times 20 October 1982 Stevens William K. Results Jayewardene won a clear mandate in a six-candidate race, securing 52.91% of the votes. Since he received more than half of the valid votes, no runoff was required. Voter turnout was 81.06%. According to the 3rd Amendment, if a president is re-elected via an early presidential election, their second term begins on the anniversary of the start of their first term.THIRD AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION https://lankalaw.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1982Y0V0C0A3S.html 2025-11-09 lankalaw.net Jayewardene was inaugurated for his second term on 4 February 1983.Is MS in for a second term? https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/opinion/Is-MS-in-for-a-second-term-/172-143794 2025-11-09 www.dailymirror.lk English J. R. Jayewardene United National Party 3450811 Hector Kobbekaduwa Sri Lanka Freedom Party 2548438 Rohana Wijeweera Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 273428 Kumar Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress 173934 Colvin R. de Silva Lanka Sama Samaja Party 58531 Vasudeva Nanayakkara Nava Sama Samaja Party 17005 80470 8145015 Election Commission Popular vote (%) 600px 410px Jayawardene United National Party 52.91 Kobbekaduwa Sri Lanka Freedom Party 39.07 Wijeweera Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 4.19 Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress 2.67 Geographical Share (%) 600px 410px Jayawardene United National Party 85.90 Kobbekaduwa Sri Lanka Freedom Party 8.97 Ponnambalam All Ceylon Tamil Congress 5.13 By district Districts won by JayewardeneDistricts won by Ponnambalam + Summary of the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election by electoral districtPresidential Election – 20.10.1982: All Island Results - By Electoral Districts https://elections.gov.lk/web/wp-content/uploads/election-results/presidential-elections/PresidentialElections1982.pdf Election Commission of Sri Lanka 24 November 2019 Colombo, Sri LankaElectoralDistrict Province Jayewardene Kobbekaduwa Others TotalValid Rejectedvotes TotalPolled RegisteredElectors Turnout Votes % Votes % Votes %Ampara Eastern 90,772 56.39% 53,096 32.99% 17,102 10.62% 160,970 2,101 163,071 204,268 79.83%Anuradhapura North Central 117,873 49.84% 102,973 43.54% 15,677 6.63% 236,523 2,294 238,817 278,594 85.72%Badulla Uva 141,062 58.67% 88,462 36.79% 10,916 4.54% 240,440 2,982 243,422 280,187 86.88%Batticaloa Eastern 48,094 40.05% 21,688 18.06% 50,294 41.89% 120,076 2,879 122,955 172,480 71.29%Colombo Western 436,290 57.71% 276,476 36.57% 43,265 5.72% 756,031 7,990 764,021 972,196 78.59%Galle Southern 211,544 50.23% 180,925 42.96% 28,669 6.81% 421,138 5,198 426,336 512,489 83.19%Gampaha Western 365,838 52.50% 301,808 43.31% 29,192 4.19% 696,838 5,992 702,830 835,265 84.14%Hambantota Southern 90,545 45.90% 76,402 38.73% 30,331 15.37% 197,278 1,804 199,082 241,956 82.28%Jaffna Northern 44,780 20.54% 77,300 35.46% 95,923 44.00% 218,003 10,610 228,613 493,705 46.31%Kalutara Western 211,592 50.15% 185,874 44.06% 24,426 5.79% 421,892 5,290 427,182 499,215 85.57%Kandy Central 289,621 59.80% 178,647 36.89% 16,029 3.31% 484,297 4,548 488,845 564,767 86.56%Kegalle Sabaragamuwa 195,444 57.02% 126,538 36.92% 20,780 6.06% 342,762 4,537 347,299 406,548 85.43%Kurunegala North Western 345,769 55.77% 248,479 40.08% 25,730 4.15% 619,978 5,431 625,409 717,505 87.16%Matale Central 94,031 58.11% 59,299 36.65% 8,484 5.24% 161,814 1,414 163,228 187,276 87.16%Matara Southern 164,725 49.32% 144,587 43.29% 24,671 7.39% 333,983 3,091 337,074 399,888 84.29%Monaragala Uva 51,264 49.38% 44,115 42.49% 8,442 8.13% 103,821 1,553 105,374 126,558 83.26%Nuwara Eliya Central 109,017 63.10% 57,093 33.05% 6,659 3.85% 172,769 2,048 174,817 201,878 86.60%Polonnaruwa North Central 59,414 56.26% 37,243 35.26% 8,958 8.48% 105,615 1,064 106,679 127,624 83.59%Puttalam North Western 128,877 59.12% 80,006 36.70% 9,097 4.17% 217,980 1,995 219,975 267,675 82.18%Ratnapura Sabaragamuwa 175,903 50.90% 152,506 44.13% 17,195 4.98% 345,604 3,407 349,011 402,202 86.78%Trincomalee Eastern 45,522 48.64% 31,700 33.87% 16,374 17.49% 93,596 1,795 95,391 133,646 71.38%Vanni Northern 32,834 46.42% 23,221 32.83% 14,684 20.76% 70,739 2,447 73,186 119,093 61.45%Total 3,450,811 52.91% 2,548,438 39.07% 522,898 8.02% 6,522,147 80,470 6,602,617 8,145,015 81.06% References Sri Lanka Presidential Category:J. R. Jayewardene Category:October 1982 in Sri Lanka