The normal term of office for a president is six years, although an incumbent may call an election at any time after four years in office.
15,044,490 Sri Lankans will be eligible to vote at the election
Postal voting was held on December 23 & 24,2014
19 nominations were received from by the Elections Department on December 08,2014, all of which were accepted.17 candidates were from registered political parties and 2 were independents
Electoral System
The Sri Lankan president is elected using a form of instant runoff voting. Voters can rank up to three candidates, and if no candidate wins a majority in the first round of voting, second and third preferences from ballots whose first preference candidate has been eliminated are used to determine the winner
Presidential Candidates
The incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa (United Freedom Alliance) is seeking a third term in office.
- Ceylon Worker's Congress
- Communist Party
- Lanka Sama Samaja Party
- National Freedom Front
- National Union of Worlers and
- Up-Country People's Front
The United National Party (UNP)-led opposition coalition have chosen Maithripala Sirisena,the former Minister of Health in Mahinda Rajapaksa's Govt and General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freeedom Party(SLFP) - the main constituent party of the UPFA - as the common candidate
Background to the 2015 Presidential Election
In November 2009, buoyed by the government's defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) in May 2009, incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa called an early presidential election.
In the elections held in January 2010 Mahinda Rajapaksa secured a second term in office, defeating common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka
In February 2010 the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ruled that Rajapaksa's second term would begin in November 2010, and was accordingly sworn in on November 19, 2010
In September 2010 Sri Lankan Parliament, which was controlled by Mahinda Rajapaksa's UPFA, passed the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, removing the twoterm limit on presidents, allowing Mahinda Rajapaksa to run for a third term
In November 2014 Mahinda Rajapaksa sought the Sri Lankan Supreme Court's opinion on whether he could stand for re-election.
The Sri Lankan Supreme Court ruled that Mahinda Rajapaksa could stand for re-election. The independence of the Supreme Court has been questioned since the UPFA impeached former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, allowing Mahinda Rajapaksa to appoint an ally and legal adviser, former Attorney General Mohan Peiris, as Chief Justice.
On November 20,2014 Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a proclamation calling for a presidential election at which he would seek re-election.
The following day election commissioner Mahinda Desapriya announced that nominations would be taken on December 08,2014 and that the election would be held on January 08, 2015.
Sri Lanka Votes in tightest election in decades
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa casts his vote for the presidential election, in Medamulana on Thursday Jan 08,2015
Sri Lanka Votes For Change,Mahinda Rajapaksa admits defeat in presidential election
Mahinda Rajapaksa has admitted defeat in the presidential election, his office says.
President Rajapaksa has dominated politics for a decade, but
faced an unexpected challenge from his health minister Maithripala
Sirisena.
The statement said Mahinda Rajapaksa would "ensure a smooth transition of power".
Official results are not due until later on Friday Jan 09,2015, but early
results indicated that Maithripala
Sirisena. was on course to win the 50% needed.
Sri Lankan
President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost his bid for a third term on Friday Jan 09,2015,
losing to opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena.
This ended a decade
of rule that critics say had become increasingly authoritarian and
marred by nepotism and corruption.
Maithripala Sirisena,
a one-time ally of Rajapaksa who defected in November and derailed what
the president thought would be an easy win, took 51.3 % of the
votes polled in Thursday’s election. Rajapaksa got 47.6 %,
according to the Election Department.
Maithripala Sirisena Sworn in
U.S. President Barack Obama praised the peaceful transfer of power and said the United States looked forward to deepening its ties with Sri Lanka.
He said: 'Beyond the significance of this election to Sri Lanka, it is also a symbol of hope for those who support democracy all around the world. International and domestic monitors and observers were permitted to do their jobs. Sri Lankans from all segments of society cast their ballots peacefully, and the voice of the people was respected.'
The spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general told reporters Friday that Ban Ki-moon 'congratulates the people of Sri Lanka on the successful conclusion of the presidential election, and welcomes the constitutional transfer of power.'
Maithripala Sirisena Sworn in
Sirisena took his oath with senior Supreme Court Justice Kanagasabapathy Sripavan, bypassing the country's chief justice, who was installed by Rajapaksa in a widely criticised move to expand his authority even more.
Sirisena then swore in opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as the prime minister.
Addressing a large crowd in Colombo at his swearing in ceremony, Sirisena said: 'With this victory we will implement the 100-day program in our election manifesto.'
Among the changes planned, Sirisena has pledged to return the country to a parliamentary system of government.
Sirisena also promised that he would not run again for president.
He thanked Rajapaksa for conceding defeat but called for future campaigns to be 'much more mature,' and blasted the state media for its coverage.
He said: 'Even though they carried out character assassination and vilified me, I can say I had the maturity to bear it all as a result of my long political experience.'
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