1982 Sri Lankan presidential election
20 October 1982
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| Turnout | 81.06% | ||||||||||||||||
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Results by polling division | |||||||||||||||||
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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.[1][2]
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.[3] As soon as he assumed office, Jayawardene introduced the 2nd Republican Constitution of 1978, which was 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.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7] Jayewardene was inaugurated for his second term on 4 February 1983.[8]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. R. Jayewardene | United National Party | 3,450,811 | 52.91 | |
| Hector Kobbekaduwa | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 2,548,438 | 39.07 | |
| Rohana Wijeweera | Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna | 273,428 | 4.19 | |
| Kumar Ponnambalam | All Ceylon Tamil Congress | 173,934 | 2.67 | |
| Colvin R. de Silva | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 58,531 | 0.90 | |
| Vasudeva Nanayakkara | Nava Sama Samaja Party | 17,005 | 0.26 | |
| Total | 6,522,147 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 6,522,147 | 98.78 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 80,470 | 1.22 | ||
| Total votes | 6,602,617 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 8,145,015 | 81.06 | ||
| Source: Election Commission | ||||
By district
| Districts won by Jayewardene |
| Districts won by Ponnambalam |
| Electoral District |
Province | Jayewardene | Kobbekaduwa | Others | Total Valid |
Rejected votes |
Total Polled |
Registered Electors |
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
- ^ Selbourne, David (1983). "The Sri Lankan elections, Oct.–Dec. 1982". Electoral Studies. 2 (2): 175–177. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(83)90062-8. ISSN 0261-3794.
- ^ Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A. (1983). "Sri Lanka in 1982: A Year of Elections". Asian Survey. 23 (2): 158–164. doi:10.2307/2644347. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2644347.
- ^ "Biography". J.R. Jayewardene Centre. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
- ^ "Constitution of Sri Lanka". www.srilankalaw.lk. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
- ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). elections.gov.lk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-07-21. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ Stevens, William K. (20 October 1982). "Election in Sri Lanka: Capitalism Versus Socialism". The New York Times.
- ^ "THIRD AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION". lankalaw.net. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
- ^ "Is MS in for a second term?". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
- ^ "Presidential Election – 20.10.1982: All Island Results - By Electoral Districts" (PDF). Colombo, Sri Lanka: Election Commission of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 24 November 2019.