Presidential elections were held in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

on 9 November 1994. Nominations were accepted on 7 October 1994 and electoral participation was 70.47%.

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's Alliance was elected, receiving 62% of all votes cast.

Background

President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated in 1993 by the

Tamil Tigers The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

and was succeeded by the Prime Minister,

Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga ( si, ඩිංගිරි බණ්ඩා විජේතුංග, ta, டிங்கிரி பண்ட விஜேதுங்க; 15 February 1916 – 21 September 2008) was the fourth Presid ...

. President Wijetunga chose not to run in the 1994 election; therefore the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

selected Leader of the Opposition

Gamini Dissanayake Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake, PC (known as Gamini Dissanayake; si, ලයනල් ගාමිණි දිසානායක, ta, காமினி திஸாநாயக்க; 20 March 1942 – 24 Octob ...

as their candidate. His main challenger was Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga of the People's Alliance, whose party had won the

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

earlier in 1994. On 24 October 1994, during the presidential campaign, Gamini Dissanayake was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. His name on the ballot paper was replaced by his wife Srima Dissanayake.

Results

Kumaratunga won the election by a record margin with 62.28% of the vote.

References

* * * {{Sri Lankan elections

1994 in Sri Lanka