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2015 Sri Lankan presidential election

March 13, 2023

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 January 2015, two years ahead of schedule.[1][2] The incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the United People's Freedom Alliance's candidate, seeking a third term in office.[3][4] The United National Party (UNP)-led opposition coalition chose to field Maithripala Sirisena, the former Minister of Health in Rajapaksa's government and general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – the main constituent party of the UPFA – as its common candidate.[5][6]

2015 Sri Lankan presidential election
← 2010 8 January 2015 (2015-01-08) 2019 →
Turnout81.52% (7.02pp)
 
Nominee Maithripala Sirisena Mahinda Rajapaksa
Party NDF SLFP
Alliance — UPFA
Popular vote 6,217,162 5,768,090
Percentage 51.28% 47.58%
Results by polling division

Sirisena was declared the winner after receiving 51.28% of all votes cast compared to Rajapaksa's 47.58%.[7][8] The result was generally seen as a major upset.[9][10][11] When Rajapaksa called the election in November 2014 he had looked certain to win.[12][13][14] On 11 January 2015 the new government announced a special investigation into allegations of an attempted coup by Rajapaksa.[15]

Timeline

2014
  • 20 October: Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella confirmed that the election would be held in January 2015.[16]
  • 5 November: Rajapaksa sought the Supreme Court's opinion on whether he could stand for re-election.[17]
  • 20 November: Rajapaksa issued a proclamation calling for a presidential election at which he would seek re-election.[18]
  • 21 November: Sri Lanka Freedom Party general secretary Maithripala Sirisena defects to the opposition and announces he would run against Mahinda Rajapaksa in the coming election. Election commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya announces that nominations would be taken on 8 December 2014 and that the election would be held on 8 January 2015.[19]
  • 8 December: Nominations period opens by the Elections Department on 8 December 2014, all of which were accepted.[20]
  • 23–24 December: Postal voting held begins for two days.[21][22]
2015
  • 8 January: Election day. Polling stations opened at 07:00 (01:30 UTC) and closed at 16:00 (10:30 UTC).[23][24][25][26]
  • 9 January: Rajapaksa concedes defeat ahead of the final result
  • 9 January: Around 8:06 (2:36 UTC) Election commissioner confirmed Maithripala Sirisena as the new elected president.[27]
  • 9 January: Maithripala Sirsena is sworn in as Sri Lanka's sixth executive president, and seventh overall, before Supreme Court judge K. Sripavan in Independence Square, Colombo at 18:20 (12:50 UTC).[28][29]

Background

 
Protest against Rajapaksa seeking a third term, 18 November 2014

According to the constitution, the normal term of office for a president is six years, although an incumbent serving a second term may call an election at any time after four years in office.[30] In November 2009, buoyed by the government's defeat of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009, incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa called an early presidential election.[31] In the elections held in January 2010 Rajapaksa secured a second term in office, defeating common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka.[32][33] In February 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that Rajapaksa's second term would begin in November 2010, and was accordingly sworn in on 19 November 2010.[34][35][36]

In September 2010 Parliament, which was controlled by Rajapaksa's UPFA, passed the eighteenth amendment to the constitution, removing the two term limit on presidents, allowing Rajapaksa to run for a third term.[37]

There was speculation in mid-2014 that Rajapaksa would call another early presidential election: on 20 October 2014 Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella confirmed that the election would be held in January 2015.[16][38] Critics of Rajapaksa, including the Bar Association and former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, claimed that he could not stand for re-election as he had won his second term before the eighteenth amendment to the constitution had been passed.[39][40][41] In early November 2014 Rajapaksa sought the Supreme Court's opinion on whether he could stand for re-election.[17][42] The court ruled that Rajapaksa could stand for re-election.[43][44] The independence of the Supreme Court has been questioned since the UPFA impeached former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, allowing Rajapaksa to appoint an ally and legal adviser, former Attorney General Mohan Peiris, as Chief Justice.[45][46][47]

On 20 November 2014 Rajapaksa issued a proclamation calling for a presidential election at which he would seek re-election.[18][48][49] The following day election commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya announced that nominations would be taken on 8 December 2014 and that the election would be held on 8 January 2015.[19][50]

15,044,490 Sri Lankans were eligible to vote at the election.[51][52] Postal voting was held on 23 and 24 December 2014.[21][22] Foreign monitors were invited to observe the election but not from the United Nations.[53]

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.[54] There are 12,314 polling stations in the 22 electoral districts.[55]

Concurrent events

Papal visit

The election had caused uncertainty over the planned visit of Pope Francis to Sri Lanka, due to take place from 13 to 15 January 2015.[56] Prior to the election being called the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka had urged all sides not to politicise the papal visit.[57][58] After the election had been called posters appeared showing the Pope blessing Rajapaksa.[59][60][61] The Catholic church has condemned the posters and called for their removal.[62][63]

2014–15 floods
Further information: 2014–15 floods in Southeast Asia and South Asia

In the last two weeks of December 2014 central, eastern and northern Sri Lanka were hit by the worst floods since 1956, resulting in several deaths and the displacement of over one million people.[64][65] Some local election monitoring groups have expressed concern that the displaced may not be able to vote at the election.[66] The Election Commissioner has however said that no candidate, their representative or lawyers had complained and that there was no reason to postpone the election.[67][68]

Candidates

Nineteen nominations were received from by the Elections Department on 8 December 2014, all of which were accepted.[20][69] Seventeen candidates were from registered political parties and two were independents.[70]

Mahinda Rajapaksa

 
Rajapaksa election posters

The incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa will contest as the UPFA candidate, seeking an unprecedented third term.[71][72] He has also received the backing of a number of small constituent parties of the UPFA including the Ceylon Workers' Congress,[73] Communist Party,[74] Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP),[75] National Freedom Front,[76] National Union of Workers[77] and the Up-Country People's Front.[78] On nomination day, 8 December 2014, two opposition MPs, Tissa Attanayake and Jayantha Ketagoda, defected to the government to support Rajapaksa.[79][80] Attanayake was later appointed Minister of Health — the post previously held by Sirisena.[81][82] Rajapaksa has also received the support of the Buddhist extremist Bodu Bala Sena.[83]

However, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) withdrew from UPFA government on 18 November 2014 citing Rajapaksa's refusal to reform the executive presidency and enact reforms to promote accountability.[84][85][86][87] After much hesitation the All Ceylon Muslim Congress and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress also withdrew from the UPFA government, on 22 and 28 December 2014 respectively, blaming the government's failure to protect Sri Lankan Muslims from Sinhalese Buddhist extremists.[88][89][90]

Rajapaksa released his manifesto, titled Mahinda's Vision — The World Winning Path, on 23 December 2014 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall.[91][92] The manifesto pledges to introduce a new constitution within one year of being elected but the executive presidency won't be abolished — it will be amended and the "weakness" in the parliamentary system eliminated.[93][94][95] A naval force and a special security force will be set up, with the help of the army, to tackle drug trafficking and other organised crime.[93][96] The manifesto also pledges to establish a transparent, judicial inquiry into the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War but Rajapaksa has refused to co-operate with UN investigation.[97][98][99]

Maithripala Sirisena

 

In the run up to the election being called several names had been suggested for nomination as the common opposition candidate: former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, UNP Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya, former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and leader of the National Movement for Social Justice Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero.[100][101] However, on 21 November 2014, after the election had been called, Maithripala Sirisena, was revealed as the common opposition candidate by the UNP.[102][103] Sirisena had been Minister of Health in Rajapaksa's government and general secretary of the SLFP before defecting to the opposition coalition.[104][105] Sirisena immediately received the support of former president Chandrika Kumaratunga and several UPFA MPs that had defected alongside him (Duminda Dissanayake, M. K. D. S. Gunawardena, Wasantha Senanayake, Rajitha Senaratne, Rajiva Wijesinha).[106][107][108] Sirisena and the other UPFA MPs were stripped of their ministerial positions and expelled from the SLFP.[109][110][111] On 30 November minister Navin Dissanayake resigned from the UPFA government and defected to the opposition to support Sirisena.[112][113] Two deputy ministers, Palani Digambaran and Velusami Radhakrishnan, resigned from the UPFA government on 10 December 2014 to support Sirisena.[114][115] Two other deputy ministers, Faiszer Musthapha and Nandimithra Ekanayake, resigned from the UPFA government, on 31 December 2014 and 1 January 2015 respectively, to support Sirisena.[116][117][118] Sirisena received the support of UPFA MP Achala Jagodage on 2 January 2015.[119][120]

Sirisena pledged to abolish the executive presidency within 100 days of being elected, repeal the controversial eighteenth amendment, re-instate the seventeenth amendment and appoint UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister.[121][122][123] On 1 December 2014, Sirisena signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with 36 opposition parties/civic groups promising to abolish the executive presidency, hold parliamentary elections, form an all-party national government and carry out various political reforms.[124][125] Signatories to the MOU include the UNP, Sarath Fonseka's Democratic Party, Democratic People's Front, Azath Salley's Muslim Tamil National Alliance, Free Media Movement, Federation of University Teachers Association as well as dissident groups of the LSSP and Communist Party.[126][127] The following day the JHU announced that it would support Sirisena in the presidential election.[128][129] On 30 December 2014 the Tamil National Alliance, the largest political party representing the Sri Lankan Tamil people, endorsed Sirisena.[130]

Sirisena contested as a New Democratic Front (NDF) candidate under its swan symbol.[131][132] Common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka contested in the 2010 presidential election as a NDF candidate under its swan symbol.[133]

Sirisena released his manifesto, titled A Compassionate Maithri Governance — A Stable Country, on 19 December 2014 during a rally at Viharamahadevi Park.[134][135] The main pledge in his manifesto was the replacement of the executive presidency with a Westminster style cabinet, but the manifesto acknowledged that Sirisena would need the support of the parliament to amend the constitution.[136] The manifesto also makes a commitment to replace the open list proportional representation system with a mixture of first-past-the-post and PR for electing MPs.[136] Independent commissions would be established to oversee the judiciary, police, elections department, Auditor-General's Department and Attorney-General's Department.[137][138] The Commission on Bribery and Corruption would be strengthened and political diplomatic appointments annulled.[137][138][139] Populist measures in the manifesto included a commitment to write-off 50% of farmers' loans, reduce fuel prices by removing taxes and a salary increase of Rs.10,000 for public servants.[138][140][141][142] Public spending on health would increase from 1.8% of GDP to 3% of GDP whilst that on education would increase from 1.7% of GDP to 6% of GDP.[143][144] The manifesto also stated that the casino licences granted to Kerry Packer's Crown Resort and John Keells Holdings's Water Front would be cancelled.[145] Political victims during Rajapaks's rule, such as Sarath Fonseka and Shirani Bandaranayake, would be re-appointed.[140][146]

In a separate document, Sirisena has pledged that, whilst resisting any international investigation, he would establish an independent domestic inquiry into the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War.[138][147]

Minor candidates

The remaining seventeen candidates are from minor political parties or independents.[148]

Many of the minor candidates were merely "dummy candidates" for the two main candidates, who were fielded by the main candidates to obtain the maximum benefits of being a candidate, such as free slots on state television, two agents at every polling booth and assigning counting agents.[152]

Conduct

The 2015 election, like past Sri Lankan elections, was characterized by violence, misuse of state resources and other violations of election laws.[153][154][155][156] Local election monitoring groups described the violations as shameless and condemned the police for their inaction.[157] The government accused some local election monitoring groups of being biased in favour of the opposition candidate and of being funded by foreign countries.[158][159] The International Crisis Group warned that the tighter the election, the more violent it would be, and in the event that Rajapaksa lost, he may turn to the military or the "politically-compliant" Supreme Court to retain power.[160][161] However, Rajapaksa stated that, although he expected not to lose, he would hand over power peacefully should he do so.[162] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the Sri Lankan government to ensure "the peaceful and credible conduct" of the election.[163][164] Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma called for "transparency, a level playing field, and adherence to the laws and norms that govern a credible and peaceful election".[165][166] The European Union's heads of mission in Colombo issued a joint statement on 2 January 2015 calling for a "peaceful, credible and transparent" election.[167][168]

By 31 December, 2014, the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) had reported 1,007 incidents of election law violations, 105 of which were related to violence, including 19 incidents involving firearms.[169] CaFFE berated the police for seemingly allowing government supporters to attack the opposition.[170] The People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) reported 730 cases of violations by 3 January 2015 including 197 incidents of violence.[171] The Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) had recorded 420 incidents between 20 November 2014 and 5 January 2015.[172] The police had received a total of 214 complaints by 2 January 2015 and arrested 92 people, whom were all subsequently released on bail.[173]

According to analysts and opposition parties, Rajapaksa was using the Sri Lankan military to depress opposition turnout, particularly amongst the Tamils in the north and east of the country.[174][175] On 4 January 2015, international election monitors reported that they had received complaints of voter intimidation and that the army had set up 400 roadblocks to prevent Tamils from voting.[176]

After voting had finished, election commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya declared the poll to be "peaceful" and the election to be "free and fair".[177] However, according to the CMEV, some voters in the north were prevented from voting.[178]

Election monitors

104 election monitors from the South Asian Election Monitoring Forum, South Asian Election Monitoring Association, Asian Election Monitoring Network and the Commonwealth arrived in Sri Lanka on 27 December 2014.[179] Monitors from the European Election Monitoring Association were also expected to be called upon.[180] The Election Commissioner offered six election monitoring groups the opportunity to monitor the count at only 300 of the 1,200 counting centres.[181][182]

After polling, Commonwealth observers said the election was not fully democratic due to the inadequate electoral and legal framework and the unequal pre-electoral environment.[183][184]

Violence

A Buddhist vihara in Borella belonging to JHU MP Athuraliye Rathana Thero was attacked on 20 November 2014, two days after the JHU left the UPFA government.[185][186][187] On the evening of 21 November 2014, UNP member Chamila Ranasinghe was shot at Maggona in Payagala, as UNP supporters celebrated the crossover of UPFA MPs to the opposition.[188][189] The houses of two UNP supporters from Madampe, Milton and Sudeh Priyankara, were shot at on the night of 22/23 November 2014.[190][191] The office of UNP MP M. H. A. Haleem in Mawilmada was shot at in the early hours of 25 November 2014.[192][193] A rice truck belonging Sirisena's brother Dudley Sirisena and its crew were attacked in Marandagahamula on 29 November 2014.[194][195] A group of UNP supporters were attacked by UPFA supporters in Gelioya on the night of 30 November 2014.[196] UPFA local councillor Shiron Fernando, who had defected to the opposition to support Sirisena, was attacked at his home in Bolewatte near Wennappuwa.[197]

On the morning of 17 December 2014 a stage that Sirisena had been intending to use for a rally at Wanduramba near Galle was set on fire along with a vehicle by an unidentified group, and three workers installing the stage were abducted.[198][199] Three suspects were arrested but were then taken from police custody by Deputy Minister Nishantha Muthuhettigama.[200][201] Despite an arrest warrant being issued for his arrest, Muthuhettigama left Sri Lanka for Singapore on 26 December 2014.[202][203][204] He was arrested on 28 December 2014 after returning to Sri Lanka but was released the following day.[205][206][207][208]

The UNP's headquarters Sirikotha was attacked on 24 December 2014 by members of the Patriotic National Front and the Federation of National Organizers (FNO) resulting in over 30 injuries on both sides.[209][210][211] The FNO is believed to be an affiliate of the National Freedom Front, a member of the UPFA government.[212] On 20 December 2014 UPFA supporters tried to sabotage an opposition rally in Haputale before attacking UNP supporters resulting in five injuries.[213][214] A group of opposition activists were attacked on 21 December 2014 at the bus halt in Hambantota by government supporters led by Hambantota mayor Eraj Ravindra Fernando.[215][216] Fernando was arrested the following day but released on bail on 24 December 2014.[217][218][219] On the night of 23/24 December 2014 an unidentified group fired shots at the stage that Sirisena had been intending to use for a rally at Kolonnawa.[220][221] Sirisena's election office in Batticaloa was attacked on the morning of 24 December 2014 by a group of around 30 unidentified people armed with firearms and petrol bombs.[222]

The house in Beruwala that former president Chandrika Kumaratunga and provincial councillor Hirunika Premachandra, who had defected to support Sirisena, were dining in was stoned by UPFA supporters on 26 December 2014.[223] Later that night clashes broke in Beruwala out between UPFA and UNP supporters resulting in the Special Task Force being deployed in the town the following day.[224] Sirisena's election office in Irrakandi was attacked on the night of 27/28 December 2014.[225] On the night of 28 December 2014 Sirisena supporters were attacked following a rally at Nidangala near Mahiyangana, resulting in three injuries.[226][227] A group of artists distributing leaflets for the Sirisena in Kumbukgate near Kurunegala were attacked by UPFA supporters on 29 December 2014 as police officers looked on.[228][229] On 30 December 2014 clashes broke in Polonnaruwa between two groups Buddhist monks, one supporting Rajapaksa and the other Sirisena, during which an election monitor was attacked and threatened by supporters of Deputy Minister Siripala Gamalath.[230]

An opposition rally on 2 January 2015 in Pelmadulla was stoned by government supporters, seriously injuring at least 20, whilst Sirisena was addressing the rally.[231][232][233] Unidentified individuals fired shots at the house of UPFA provincial councillor Lakshman Wendaruwa, who had earlier pledged support for Sirisena, on the night of 2 January 2015, injuring a security guard.[234][235] As Sirisena was leaving a rally at Aralaganwila on 3 January 2015 a group of government supporters arrived in a jeep and fired shots at the rally, injuring a bystander and damaging vehicles.[236][237]

On 5 January 2015 three people setting up a stage for a Sirisena rally in Kahawatta were injured when unidentified people fired shots at them.[238] Arrest warrants were issued for three UPFA politicians, including deputy minister Premalal Jayasekara, in connection with the shooting.[239] One of the victims, Shantha Dodamgoda, succumbed to injuries and died on 7 January 2015.[240][241]

On election day, 8 January 2015, explosions were reported at three locations — Navaladi junction near Alvai, Nelukkulam Kalaimagal Maha Vidyalayam near Vavuniya and Beruwala.[242] Two women were assaulted by UPFA supporters, including deputy minister Sarana Gunawardena, in Yatiyana.[243]

Media abuse

On 22 November 2014, PEO TV internet protocol television network (IPTV) and Dialog TV satellite television network had reportedly blocked the Sirasa TV from broadcasting the Satana programme which interviewed the common opposition candidate Sirisena and several other members of opposition.[244] Tisara Samal Somaratne, a journalist for Hiru TV and Ada newspaper, was attacked by UPFA supporters in Eppawala on 5 December 2014 and later threatened by UPFA supporters whilst receiving hospital treatment.[245]

The 30 November 2014 edition of the Ravaya newspaper contained a story claiming that the State Intelligence Service had carried out a survey which showed that the opposition candidate would win the election by 59% to 41%.[246] The editor of the paper K. W. Janaranjana was later interrogated about the story by the Criminal Investigation Department.[247][248] According to Ravaya, newspaper distributors had been threatened not to sell the paper.[249][250]

On nomination day, 8 December 2014, all English and Sinhala language newspapers in the country carried a front-page promotion of Rajapaksa's war victory whilst Tamil language newspapers carried an advertisement showing Rajapaksa re-opening the railway line to Jaffna.[251][252] All TV stations in Sri Lanka had planned to broadcast Janapathi Janahamuwa, a programme featuring Rajapaksa, on the evening of 5 January 2015, the last legal day of campaigning, which would have prevented other candidates from having access TV.[253][254] However, on 5 January 2015 the district court in Kaduwela issued an enjoining order barring the stations from broadcasting the programme.[255]

Naushad Amith, a journalist working for Wijeya Newspapers, was assaulted by government supporters in Maligawatta on 6 January 2015 as police officers stood by.[256][257]

Misuse of state resources

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has documented incidents of state employees, including those from Road Development Authority and the Sri Lanka Civil Security Force, carrying out election propaganda work for the Rajapaksa campaign.[258][259] TISL has also alleged that over 1,000 buses belonging to the state-owned Sri Lanka Transport Board had been used to transport people long distances to attend Rajapaksa rallies.[260][261] TISL has complained to the Election Commissioner regarding state-owned TV stations (Rupavahini and Independent Television Network (ITN)) carrying live broadcasts of Rajapaksa rallies — a violation of election laws.[262] The Election Commissioner has asked the state broadcasters not to broadcast programmes supporting Rajapaksa.[263][264] According to TISL government officials were distributing free mobile phones on behalf of the Rajapaksa campaign.[265]

The UNP has alleged that employees of the state-owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority are being used for election propaganda work for the Rajapaksa campaign.[266][267] The Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (a pro-UNP trade union) has alleged that more than 1,000 employees of Colombo Port have been transferred to carry out election work for the Rajapaksa campaign.[268]

Government employees have been photographed by The Sunday Times putting up Rajapaksa posters on the Southern Expressway.[269] The newspaper has also reported that several senior diplomats had been recalled to Sri Lanka to work on Rajapaksa's campaign.[270] CaFFE has claimed that 44 prisoners from Galle Prison were used to erect the stage for a Rajapaksa rally at Kamburupitiya on 14 December 2014.[271][272] CaFFE has also alleged that senior government officials are openly campaigning for Rajapaksa.[273] Rajapaksa's manifesto launch on 23 December 2014 was broadcast live on the state-owned Rupavahini TV station.[93][274] The opposition has alleged that the army is campaigning for Rajapaksa, a charge the army has denied.[275] The army was found to have used state money to post Rajapaksa campaign propaganda to hundreds of thousands of soldiers and their families.[276]

The Sri Lankan government has denied that state resources are being used on the Rajapaksa campaign.[277][278]

Alleged role of R&AW

It was alleged by a Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Times, that Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing had a played in role in uniting the opposition, to bring about the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa. There had been growing concern in India on the increasing influence of its economic and military rival China in Sri Lankan affairs. Rajapaksa further upped the ante by allowing 2 Chinese submarines to dock in 2014, without informing India, in spite of a standstill agreement to this effect between India and Sri Lanka. The growing Chinese tilt of Rajapaksa was viewed by India with unease. Further, it was alleged that R&AW Chief of Station in Colombo helped co-ordination of talks within the opposition, and convinced former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe not to stand against Rajapaksa, but to choose a common opposition candidate, who had better chances of winning. The agent was also alleged to have been in touch with Chandrika Kumaratunga, who played a key role in convincing Maithripala Sirisena to be the common candidate. Further, it was alleged that the Rajapaksa government had expelled the involved R&AW Colombo station chief in the run-up to presidential election.[279][280][281][282][283][284]

Such allegations were denied by the Indian Government[285] and the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.[286]

Results

Sirsena was declared the winner after receiving 51.28% of all votes cast compared to Rajapaksa's 47.58%.[287][288] Approximately 58% of Sinhalese voters voted for Rajapaksa while 84% of minority voters voted for Sirisena.[289] Turnout was 81.52%, the highest for a Sri Lankan presidential election and significantly higher than the 2010 presidential election.[290][291] Sirsena won 12 electoral districts whilst Rajapaksa won in the remaining 10.[292]

Rajapaksa had earlier conceded defeat after meeting Wickremesinghe and assured him of a smooth transition of power.[293][294] Rajapaksa then left his official residence, the Temple Trees.[295][296] He also vacated the President's House.[297]

Sirisena was sworn in as the sixth executive president of Sri Lanka before Supreme Court judge K. Sripavan in Independence Square, Colombo at 6.20pm on 9 January 2015.[28][29] Normally, it is custom for the president to be sworn in before the chief justice, however, Sirisena had refused to be sworn in before Chief Justice Mohan Peiris, who had been controversially appointed by Rajapaksa after the controversial impeachment of the previous chief justice Shirani Bandaranayake.[298][299] Immediately afterwards, Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka's new prime minister before Sirisena.[300][301] After being sworn in, Sirisena stated that he would only serve a single term.[302]

CandidatePartyVotes%
Maithripala SirisenaNew Democratic Front6,217,16251.28
Mahinda RajapaksaSri Lanka Freedom Party5,768,09047.58
Ratnayake Arachchige SirisenaPatriotic National Front18,1740.15
Namal Ajith RajapaksaOur National Front15,7260.13
Maulawi Ibrahim Mohanmed MishlarUnited Peace Front14,3790.12
A. S. P. LiyanageSri Lanka Labour Party14,3510.12
Ruwanthileke PeduruUnited Lanka People's Party12,4360.10
Aithurus M. IlliasIndependent10,6180.09
Duminda NagamuwaFrontline Socialist Party9,9410.08
Siritunga JayasuriyaUnited Socialist Party8,8400.07
Sarath ManamendraNew Sinhala Heritage6,8750.06
Pani WijesiriwardeneSocialist Equality Party4,2770.04
Anurudha PolgampolaIndependent4,2600.04
Sundaram MahendranNava Sama Samaja Party4,0470.03
Muthu Bandara TheminimullaAll Are Citizens, All Are Kings Organisation3,8460.03
Battaramulle SeelarathanaJana Setha Peramuna3,7500.03
Prasanna PriyankaraDemocratic National Movement2,7930.02
Jayantha KulathungaUnited Lanka Great Council2,0610.02
Wimal GeeganageSri Lanka National Front1,8260.02
Total12,123,452100.00
Valid votes12,123,45298.85
Invalid/blank votes140,9251.15
Total votes12,264,377100.00
Registered voters/turnout15,044,49081.52
Source: Election Commission

District

Districts won by Sirisena
Districts won by Rajapaksa
Electoral
District		 Province Rajapaksa Sirisena Others Total Valid Turnout
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Anuradhapura North Central 281,161 53.59% 238,407 45.44% 5,065 0.97% 524,633 100.00% 83.10%
Badulla Uva 249,243 49.15% 249,524 49.21% 8,303 1.64% 507,070 100.00% 82.99%
Batticaloa Eastern 41,631 16.22% 209,422 81.62% 5,533 2.16% 256,586 100.00% 70.97%
Colombo Western 562,614 43.40% 725,073 55.93% 8,673 0.67% 1,296,360 100.00% 82.67%
Digamadulla Eastern 121,027 33.82% 233,360 65.22% 3,430 0.96% 357,817 100.00% 77.39%
Galle Southern 377,126 55.64% 293,994 43.37% 6,691 0.99% 677,811 100.00% 83.49%
Gampaha Western 664,347 49.49% 669,007 49.83% 9,142 0.68% 1,342,496 100.00% 82.88%
Hambantota Southern 243,295 63.02% 138,708 35.93% 4,073 1.05% 386,076 100.00% 84.13%
Jaffna Northern 74,454 21.85% 253,574 74.42% 12,723 3.73% 340,751 100.00% 66.28%
Kalutara Western 395,890 52.65% 349,404 46.46% 6,690 0.89% 751,984 100.00% 84.73%
Kandy Central 378,585 44.23% 466,994 54.56% 10,329 1.21% 855,908 100.00% 82.63%
Kegalle Sabaragamuwa 278,130 51.82% 252,533 47.05% 6,108 1.14% 536,771 100.00% 83.60%
Kurunegala North Western 556,868 53.46% 476,602 45.76% 8,154 0.78% 1,041,624 100.00% 82.98%
Matara Southern 297,823 57.81% 212,435 41.24% 4,892 0.95% 515,150 100.00% 83.36%
Matale Central 158,880 51.41% 145,928 47.22% 4,214 1.36% 309,022 100.00% 82.35%
Monaragala Uva 172,745 61.45% 105,276 37.45% 3,095 1.10% 281,116 100.00% 83.75%
Nuwara Eliya Central 145,339 34.06% 272,605 63.88% 8,822 2.07% 426,766 100.00% 81.27%
Polonnaruwa North Central 105,640 41.27% 147,974 57.80% 2,382 0.93% 255,996 100.00% 83.94%
Puttalam North Western 197,751 48.97% 202,073 50.04% 4,026 1.00% 403,850 100.00% 73.81%
Ratnapura Sabaragamuwa 379,053 55.74% 292,514 43.01% 8,517 1.25% 680,084 100.00% 84.90%
Trincomalee Eastern 52,111 26.67% 140,338 71.84% 2,907 1.49% 195,356 100.00% 76.76%
Vanni Northern 34,377 19.07% 141,417 78.47% 4,431 2.46% 180,225 100.00% 72.57%
Total 5,768,090 47.58% 6,217,162 51.28% 138,200 1.14% 12,123,452 100.00% 81.52%

Maps

  •  

    Winners of polling divisions

  •  

    Majorities according to polling divisions

  •  

    Majorities according to electoral districts

  •  

    Sri Lanka Presidential Election Results 2015

Aftermath

Attempted coup

 
Wikinews has related news:
  • Sri Lanka to investigate alleged coup attempt by outgoing president

According to Mangala Samaraweera and Rajitha Senaratne, senior figures in the Sirisena campaign, Rajapaksa attempted to stage a coup in order to stay in power when it became clear he was going to lose the election.[303][304] They claimed that Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, then-current Defense Secretary, summoned Commander of the Army Daya Ratnayake, Inspector General of Police N. K. Illangakoon and Attorney General Yuwanjana Wanasundera to the Temple Trees at around 1 am on 9 January 2015.[305] Rajapaksa allegedly pressured the three officials to deploy troops, annul the election results and declare a state of emergency, however, they refused.[306][307] According to the Colombo Telegraph, Rajapaksa also wished to dissolve parliament.[308] It was only then Rajapaksa decided to concede defeat and summoned Wickremesinghe to assure him of a smooth transition of power.[309]

A spokesman for Rajapaksa dismissed the allegations as baseless.[310][311] The army and police have also denied the allegations.[312] The Sirisena government subsequently investigated the alleged coup attempt.[15]

Departures and resignations

Central Bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who had openly campaigned for Rajapaksa, resigned from his position on 9 January 2015.[313] Minister of Foreign Employment Dilan Perera also resigned.[314] The controversial Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera fled to Singapore on election day.[315] He was replaced by Arjuna Mahendran.[316] B.M.U.D. Basnayake was appointed Defence Secretary, replacing Rajapaksa's brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa.[317][318] Lanka Hospitals Corporation, whose biggest shareholder is the state-owned Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, announced on 9 January 2015 that its chairman (Gotabaya Rajapaksa) and vice chair person (Roshini Cabraal, wife of Ajith Nivard Cabraal) had resigned.[319]

Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development and another brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, left Sri Lanka with his wife for the United States on 11 January 2015.[320] Basil Rajapaksa holds US-Sri Lankan dual citizenship.[321][322] Senior diplomats who had returned to Sri Lanka to support the Rajapaksa election campaign left the country on the same day.[323] Two of aides of Sarath Fonseka, Major General Mahesh Senanayake and Brigadier Duminda Keppetiwalana, who had fled Sri Lanka after the 2010 presidential election, returned to Sri Lanka on 10 January 2015.[324]

Rajpal Abeynayake and Dinesh Weerawansa, editors of the state-owned Daily News and Sunday Observer newspapers which had run a venomous campaign against Sirisena in the run up to the election, failed to show up for work on 9 January 2015 and had vanished.[325] After Sirisena's victory the Daily News made an abrupt u-turn, praising Sirisena and criticising Rajapaksa.[326] Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation chairman Hudson Samarasinghe and Deputy General Manager of ITN Sudharman Radaliyagoda had fled the country according to the Colombo Telegraph. Somaratne Dissanayake, who had worked for the Rajapaksa regime before defecting to support Sirisena, was appointed chairman of the state-owned Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation.[327]

The new administration has said that a special unit will be established to investigate large scale corruption during the Rajapaksa regime.[328]

On 10 January 2015 minister Nimal Siripala de Silva announced that the UPFA would support Sirisena's 100-day programme unconditionally.[329][330] Addressing the nation from Temple of the Tooth the following day, Sirisena invited all political parties to join to form a national unity government.[331] Shortly afterwards a group of 21 SLFP MPs pledged their support for Sirisena.[332][333] According to Sirisena's team has enough support in parliament to secure a majority.[334]

International reaction

Supranational bodies
  •   United Nations – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating the Sri Lankan people "on the successful conclusion of the presidential election", singling out the election commission for its "professionalism", saying that he looked forward to working with Sirisena but re-iterating his support for development, reconciliation, political dialogue and accountability.[335][336]
  •   European Union – Foreign Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating Sirisena, saying that the "EU looks forward to working with him to further develop its relations with Sri Lanka".[337][338]
Nations
  •   Australia – Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop issued a statement on 10 January 2015 congratulating Sri Lankans on a peaceful and orderly election and pledging to support Sirisena as he implements democratic reform, good governance and anti-corruption measures.[339][340] Later Prime Minister Tony Abbott telephoned Sirisena to congratulate him and emphasising "continuing cooperation" between the countries on people smuggling.[341][342]
  •   China – At a regular press conference on 9 January 2015 Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei congratulated Sirisena, saying that China expected "new strides made by the Sri Lankan government and people on their course toward national development".[343][344]
  •   India – Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Sirisena after Rajapaksa had conceded defeat, congratulating Sirisena and the Sri Lankan people for the "peaceful and democratic poll process".[345][346]
  •   Japan – Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida issued a statement on 9 January 2015 welcoming the "peaceful and successful holding of the presidential election", congratulating Sirisena, saying that Japan hopes that "all parties concerned in Sri Lanka will work together to further promote national reconciliation, democracy and economic development".[347][348]
  •   Norway – Prime Minister Erna Solberg issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating the Sri Lankan people and Sirisena, saying that she looked forward to working with the new government to "promote a peaceful, inclusive and democratic Sri Lanka".[349][350]
  •   United Kingdom – Prime Minister David Cameron issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating Sirisena and encouraging him to co-operate with UN investigation into alleged war crimes "so that the issues of the past can be addressed and the country can move forward to a brighter, peaceful future where all Sri Lankans can play a role".[351][352] Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also issued a statement commending the Sri Lanka people "on the successful completion of their elections" and congratulating Sirisena, saying he looked forward to "working with the new government and reinvigorating the long standing partnership between the UK and Sri Lanka".[353][354]
  •   United States – President Barack Obama issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating "the people of Sri Lanka on the successful and peaceful conclusion" to the election and Sirisena on his victory, saying that it was "a symbol of hope for those who support democracy all around the world".[355][356] Secretary of State John Kerry also issued a statement praising Sri Lanka people "on the successful conclusion of their elections", commending Rajapaksa for accepting the resulting and saying that he looked "forward to working with President-elect Maithripala Sirisena".[357][358]

Notes

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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sri Lankan presidential election, 2015.
General
  • Department of Elections 2021-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
  • Sri Lankan presidential election, 2015 analysis, Upali Newspapers
  • Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)
Manifestos

March 13, 2023
2015, lankan, presidential, election, presidential, elections, were, held, lanka, january, 2015, years, ahead, schedule, incumbent, president, mahinda, rajapaksa, united, people, freedom, alliance, candidate, seeking, third, term, office, united, national, par. Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 January 2015 two years ahead of schedule 1 2 The incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the United People s Freedom Alliance s candidate seeking a third term in office 3 4 The United National Party UNP led opposition coalition chose to field Maithripala Sirisena the former Minister of Health in Rajapaksa s government and general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party SLFP the main constituent party of the UPFA as its common candidate 5 6 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election 2010 8 January 2015 2015 01 08 2019 Turnout81 52 7 02pp Nominee Maithripala Sirisena Mahinda RajapaksaParty NDF SLFPAlliance UPFAPopular vote 6 217 162 5 768 090Percentage 51 28 47 58 Results by polling divisionPresident before electionMahinda RajapaksaSLFP Elected President Maithripala SirisenaNDFSirisena was declared the winner after receiving 51 28 of all votes cast compared to Rajapaksa s 47 58 7 8 The result was generally seen as a major upset 9 10 11 When Rajapaksa called the election in November 2014 he had looked certain to win 12 13 14 On 11 January 2015 the new government announced a special investigation into allegations of an attempted coup by Rajapaksa 15 Contents 1 Timeline 2 Background 2 1 Electoral system 2 2 Concurrent events 3 Candidates 3 1 Mahinda Rajapaksa 3 2 Maithripala Sirisena 3 3 Minor candidates 4 Conduct 4 1 Election monitors 4 2 Violence 4 3 Media abuse 4 4 Misuse of state resources 4 5 Alleged role of R amp AW 5 Results 5 1 District 6 Maps 7 Aftermath 7 1 Attempted coup 7 2 Departures and resignations 7 3 International reaction 8 Notes 9 References 10 External linksTimeline Edit201420 October Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella confirmed that the election would be held in January 2015 16 5 November Rajapaksa sought the Supreme Court s opinion on whether he could stand for re election 17 20 November Rajapaksa issued a proclamation calling for a presidential election at which he would seek re election 18 21 November Sri Lanka Freedom Party general secretary Maithripala Sirisena defects to the opposition and announces he would run against Mahinda Rajapaksa in the coming election Election commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya announces that nominations would be taken on 8 December 2014 and that the election would be held on 8 January 2015 19 8 December Nominations period opens by the Elections Department on 8 December 2014 all of which were accepted 20 23 24 December Postal voting held begins for two days 21 22 20158 January Election day Polling stations opened at 07 00 01 30 UTC and closed at 16 00 10 30 UTC 23 24 25 26 9 January Rajapaksa concedes defeat ahead of the final result 9 January Around 8 06 2 36 UTC Election commissioner confirmed Maithripala Sirisena as the new elected president 27 9 January Maithripala Sirsena is sworn in as Sri Lanka s sixth executive president and seventh overall before Supreme Court judge K Sripavan in Independence Square Colombo at 18 20 12 50 UTC 28 29 Background Edit Protest against Rajapaksa seeking a third term 18 November 2014 According to the constitution the normal term of office for a president is six years although an incumbent serving a second term may call an election at any time after four years in office 30 In November 2009 buoyed by the government s defeat of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009 incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa called an early presidential election 31 In the elections held in January 2010 Rajapaksa secured a second term in office defeating common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka 32 33 In February 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that Rajapaksa s second term would begin in November 2010 and was accordingly sworn in on 19 November 2010 34 35 36 In September 2010 Parliament which was controlled by Rajapaksa s UPFA passed the eighteenth amendment to the constitution removing the two term limit on presidents allowing Rajapaksa to run for a third term 37 There was speculation in mid 2014 that Rajapaksa would call another early presidential election on 20 October 2014 Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella confirmed that the election would be held in January 2015 16 38 Critics of Rajapaksa including the Bar Association and former Chief Justice Sarath N Silva claimed that he could not stand for re election as he had won his second term before the eighteenth amendment to the constitution had been passed 39 40 41 In early November 2014 Rajapaksa sought the Supreme Court s opinion on whether he could stand for re election 17 42 The court ruled that Rajapaksa could stand for re election 43 44 The independence of the Supreme Court has been questioned since the UPFA impeached former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake allowing Rajapaksa to appoint an ally and legal adviser former Attorney General Mohan Peiris as Chief Justice 45 46 47 On 20 November 2014 Rajapaksa issued a proclamation calling for a presidential election at which he would seek re election 18 48 49 The following day election commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya announced that nominations would be taken on 8 December 2014 and that the election would be held on 8 January 2015 19 50 15 044 490 Sri Lankans were eligible to vote at the election 51 52 Postal voting was held on 23 and 24 December 2014 21 22 Foreign monitors were invited to observe the election but not from the United Nations 53 Electoral system Edit 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 54 There are 12 314 polling stations in the 22 electoral districts 55 Concurrent events Edit Papal visitThe election had caused uncertainty over the planned visit of Pope Francis to Sri Lanka due to take place from 13 to 15 January 2015 56 Prior to the election being called the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka had urged all sides not to politicise the papal visit 57 58 After the election had been called posters appeared showing the Pope blessing Rajapaksa 59 60 61 The Catholic church has condemned the posters and called for their removal 62 63 2014 15 floodsFurther information 2014 15 floods in Southeast Asia and South Asia In the last two weeks of December 2014 central eastern and northern Sri Lanka were hit by the worst floods since 1956 resulting in several deaths and the displacement of over one million people 64 65 Some local election monitoring groups have expressed concern that the displaced may not be able to vote at the election 66 The Election Commissioner has however said that no candidate their representative or lawyers had complained and that there was no reason to postpone the election 67 68 Candidates EditNineteen nominations were received from by the Elections Department on 8 December 2014 all of which were accepted 20 69 Seventeen candidates were from registered political parties and two were independents 70 Mahinda Rajapaksa Edit Rajapaksa election posters The incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa will contest as the UPFA candidate seeking an unprecedented third term 71 72 He has also received the backing of a number of small constituent parties of the UPFA including the Ceylon Workers Congress 73 Communist Party 74 Lanka Sama Samaja Party LSSP 75 National Freedom Front 76 National Union of Workers 77 and the Up Country People s Front 78 On nomination day 8 December 2014 two opposition MPs Tissa Attanayake and Jayantha Ketagoda defected to the government to support Rajapaksa 79 80 Attanayake was later appointed Minister of Health the post previously held by Sirisena 81 82 Rajapaksa has also received the support of the Buddhist extremist Bodu Bala Sena 83 However the Jathika Hela Urumaya JHU withdrew from UPFA government on 18 November 2014 citing Rajapaksa s refusal to reform the executive presidency and enact reforms to promote accountability 84 85 86 87 After much hesitation the All Ceylon Muslim Congress and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress also withdrew from the UPFA government on 22 and 28 December 2014 respectively blaming the government s failure to protect Sri Lankan Muslims from Sinhalese Buddhist extremists 88 89 90 Rajapaksa released his manifesto titled Mahinda s Vision The World Winning Path on 23 December 2014 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall 91 92 The manifesto pledges to introduce a new constitution within one year of being elected but the executive presidency won t be abolished it will be amended and the weakness in the parliamentary system eliminated 93 94 95 A naval force and a special security force will be set up with the help of the army to tackle drug trafficking and other organised crime 93 96 The manifesto also pledges to establish a transparent judicial inquiry into the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War but Rajapaksa has refused to co operate with UN investigation 97 98 99 Maithripala Sirisena Edit In the run up to the election being called several names had been suggested for nomination as the common opposition candidate former president Chandrika Kumaratunga UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe UNP Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and leader of the National Movement for Social Justice Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero 100 101 However on 21 November 2014 after the election had been called Maithripala Sirisena was revealed as the common opposition candidate by the UNP 102 103 Sirisena had been Minister of Health in Rajapaksa s government and general secretary of the SLFP before defecting to the opposition coalition 104 105 Sirisena immediately received the support of former president Chandrika Kumaratunga and several UPFA MPs that had defected alongside him Duminda Dissanayake M K D S Gunawardena Wasantha Senanayake Rajitha Senaratne Rajiva Wijesinha 106 107 108 Sirisena and the other UPFA MPs were stripped of their ministerial positions and expelled from the SLFP 109 110 111 On 30 November minister Navin Dissanayake resigned from the UPFA government and defected to the opposition to support Sirisena 112 113 Two deputy ministers Palani Digambaran and Velusami Radhakrishnan resigned from the UPFA government on 10 December 2014 to support Sirisena 114 115 Two other deputy ministers Faiszer Musthapha and Nandimithra Ekanayake resigned from the UPFA government on 31 December 2014 and 1 January 2015 respectively to support Sirisena 116 117 118 Sirisena received the support of UPFA MP Achala Jagodage on 2 January 2015 119 120 Sirisena pledged to abolish the executive presidency within 100 days of being elected repeal the controversial eighteenth amendment re instate the seventeenth amendment and appoint UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister 121 122 123 On 1 December 2014 Sirisena signed a memorandum of understanding MOU with 36 opposition parties civic groups promising to abolish the executive presidency hold parliamentary elections form an all party national government and carry out various political reforms 124 125 Signatories to the MOU include the UNP Sarath Fonseka s Democratic Party Democratic People s Front Azath Salley s Muslim Tamil National Alliance Free Media Movement Federation of University Teachers Association as well as dissident groups of the LSSP and Communist Party 126 127 The following day the JHU announced that it would support Sirisena in the presidential election 128 129 On 30 December 2014 the Tamil National Alliance the largest political party representing the Sri Lankan Tamil people endorsed Sirisena 130 Sirisena contested as a New Democratic Front NDF candidate under its swan symbol 131 132 Common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka contested in the 2010 presidential election as a NDF candidate under its swan symbol 133 Sirisena released his manifesto titled A Compassionate Maithri Governance A Stable Country on 19 December 2014 during a rally at Viharamahadevi Park 134 135 The main pledge in his manifesto was the replacement of the executive presidency with a Westminster style cabinet but the manifesto acknowledged that Sirisena would need the support of the parliament to amend the constitution 136 The manifesto also makes a commitment to replace the open list proportional representation system with a mixture of first past the post and PR for electing MPs 136 Independent commissions would be established to oversee the judiciary police elections department Auditor General s Department and Attorney General s Department 137 138 The Commission on Bribery and Corruption would be strengthened and political diplomatic appointments annulled 137 138 139 Populist measures in the manifesto included a commitment to write off 50 of farmers loans reduce fuel prices by removing taxes and a salary increase of Rs 10 000 for public servants 138 140 141 142 Public spending on health would increase from 1 8 of GDP to 3 of GDP whilst that on education would increase from 1 7 of GDP to 6 of GDP 143 144 The manifesto also stated that the casino licences granted to Kerry Packer s Crown Resort and John Keells Holdings s Water Front would be cancelled 145 Political victims during Rajapaks s rule such as Sarath Fonseka and Shirani Bandaranayake would be re appointed 140 146 In a separate document Sirisena has pledged that whilst resisting any international investigation he would establish an independent domestic inquiry into the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War 138 147 Minor candidates Edit The remaining seventeen candidates are from minor political parties or independents 148 Wimal Geeganage Sri Lanka National Front 149 Aithurus M Illias Independent Siritunga Jayasuriya United Socialist Party Jayantha Kulathunga United Lanka Great Council 149 A S P Liyanage Sri Lanka Labour Party 149 Sundaram Mahendran Nava Sama Samaja Party 149 Sarath Manamendra New Sinhala Heritage endorsed Rajapaksa on 30 December 2014 150 151 Maulawi Ibrahim Mohanmed Mishlar United Peace Front Duminda Nagamuwa Frontline Socialist Party Ruwanthileke Peduru United Lanka People s Party Anurudha Polgampola Independent Prasanna Priyankara Democratic National Movement Namal Ajith Rajapaksa Our National Front Battaramulle Seelarathana Jana Setha Peramuna Ratnayake Arachchige Sirisena Patriotic National Front Muthu Bandara Theminimulla All Are Citizens All Are Kings Organisation Pani Wijesiriwardene Socialist Equality PartyMany of the minor candidates were merely dummy candidates for the two main candidates who were fielded by the main candidates to obtain the maximum benefits of being a candidate such as free slots on state television two agents at every polling booth and assigning counting agents 152 Conduct EditThe 2015 election like past Sri Lankan elections was characterized by violence misuse of state resources and other violations of election laws 153 154 155 156 Local election monitoring groups described the violations as shameless and condemned the police for their inaction 157 The government accused some local election monitoring groups of being biased in favour of the opposition candidate and of being funded by foreign countries 158 159 The International Crisis Group warned that the tighter the election the more violent it would be and in the event that Rajapaksa lost he may turn to the military or the politically compliant Supreme Court to retain power 160 161 However Rajapaksa stated that although he expected not to lose he would hand over power peacefully should he do so 162 UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon called on the Sri Lankan government to ensure the peaceful and credible conduct of the election 163 164 Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma called for transparency a level playing field and adherence to the laws and norms that govern a credible and peaceful election 165 166 The European Union s heads of mission in Colombo issued a joint statement on 2 January 2015 calling for a peaceful credible and transparent election 167 168 By 31 December 2014 the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections CaFFE had reported 1 007 incidents of election law violations 105 of which were related to violence including 19 incidents involving firearms 169 CaFFE berated the police for seemingly allowing government supporters to attack the opposition 170 The People s Action for Free and Fair Elections PAFFREL reported 730 cases of violations by 3 January 2015 including 197 incidents of violence 171 The Center for Monitoring Election Violence CMEV had recorded 420 incidents between 20 November 2014 and 5 January 2015 172 The police had received a total of 214 complaints by 2 January 2015 and arrested 92 people whom were all subsequently released on bail 173 According to analysts and opposition parties Rajapaksa was using the Sri Lankan military to depress opposition turnout particularly amongst the Tamils in the north and east of the country 174 175 On 4 January 2015 international election monitors reported that they had received complaints of voter intimidation and that the army had set up 400 roadblocks to prevent Tamils from voting 176 After voting had finished election commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya declared the poll to be peaceful and the election to be free and fair 177 However according to the CMEV some voters in the north were prevented from voting 178 Election monitors Edit 104 election monitors from the South Asian Election Monitoring Forum South Asian Election Monitoring Association Asian Election Monitoring Network and the Commonwealth arrived in Sri Lanka on 27 December 2014 179 Monitors from the European Election Monitoring Association were also expected to be called upon 180 The Election Commissioner offered six election monitoring groups the opportunity to monitor the count at only 300 of the 1 200 counting centres 181 182 After polling Commonwealth observers said the election was not fully democratic due to the inadequate electoral and legal framework and the unequal pre electoral environment 183 184 Violence Edit A Buddhist vihara in Borella belonging to JHU MP Athuraliye Rathana Thero was attacked on 20 November 2014 two days after the JHU left the UPFA government 185 186 187 On the evening of 21 November 2014 UNP member Chamila Ranasinghe was shot at Maggona in Payagala as UNP supporters celebrated the crossover of UPFA MPs to the opposition 188 189 The houses of two UNP supporters from Madampe Milton and Sudeh Priyankara were shot at on the night of 22 23 November 2014 190 191 The office of UNP MP M H A Haleem in Mawilmada was shot at in the early hours of 25 November 2014 192 193 A rice truck belonging Sirisena s brother Dudley Sirisena and its crew were attacked in Marandagahamula on 29 November 2014 194 195 A group of UNP supporters were attacked by UPFA supporters in Gelioya on the night of 30 November 2014 196 UPFA local councillor Shiron Fernando who had defected to the opposition to support Sirisena was attacked at his home in Bolewatte near Wennappuwa 197 On the morning of 17 December 2014 a stage that Sirisena had been intending to use for a rally at Wanduramba near Galle was set on fire along with a vehicle by an unidentified group and three workers installing the stage were abducted 198 199 Three suspects were arrested but were then taken from police custody by Deputy Minister Nishantha Muthuhettigama 200 201 Despite an arrest warrant being issued for his arrest Muthuhettigama left Sri Lanka for Singapore on 26 December 2014 202 203 204 He was arrested on 28 December 2014 after returning to Sri Lanka but was released the following day 205 206 207 208 The UNP s headquarters Sirikotha was attacked on 24 December 2014 by members of the Patriotic National Front and the Federation of National Organizers FNO resulting in over 30 injuries on both sides 209 210 211 The FNO is believed to be an affiliate of the National Freedom Front a member of the UPFA government 212 On 20 December 2014 UPFA supporters tried to sabotage an opposition rally in Haputale before attacking UNP supporters resulting in five injuries 213 214 A group of opposition activists were attacked on 21 December 2014 at the bus halt in Hambantota by government supporters led by Hambantota mayor Eraj Ravindra Fernando 215 216 Fernando was arrested the following day but released on bail on 24 December 2014 217 218 219 On the night of 23 24 December 2014 an unidentified group fired shots at the stage that Sirisena had been intending to use for a rally at Kolonnawa 220 221 Sirisena s election office in Batticaloa was attacked on the morning of 24 December 2014 by a group of around 30 unidentified people armed with firearms and petrol bombs 222 The house in Beruwala that former president Chandrika Kumaratunga and provincial councillor Hirunika Premachandra who had defected to support Sirisena were dining in was stoned by UPFA supporters on 26 December 2014 223 Later that night clashes broke in Beruwala out between UPFA and UNP supporters resulting in the Special Task Force being deployed in the town the following day 224 Sirisena s election office in Irrakandi was attacked on the night of 27 28 December 2014 225 On the night of 28 December 2014 Sirisena supporters were attacked following a rally at Nidangala near Mahiyangana resulting in three injuries 226 227 A group of artists distributing leaflets for the Sirisena in Kumbukgate near Kurunegala were attacked by UPFA supporters on 29 December 2014 as police officers looked on 228 229 On 30 December 2014 clashes broke in Polonnaruwa between two groups Buddhist monks one supporting Rajapaksa and the other Sirisena during which an election monitor was attacked and threatened by supporters of Deputy Minister Siripala Gamalath 230 An opposition rally on 2 January 2015 in Pelmadulla was stoned by government supporters seriously injuring at least 20 whilst Sirisena was addressing the rally 231 232 233 Unidentified individuals fired shots at the house of UPFA provincial councillor Lakshman Wendaruwa who had earlier pledged support for Sirisena on the night of 2 January 2015 injuring a security guard 234 235 As Sirisena was leaving a rally at Aralaganwila on 3 January 2015 a group of government supporters arrived in a jeep and fired shots at the rally injuring a bystander and damaging vehicles 236 237 On 5 January 2015 three people setting up a stage for a Sirisena rally in Kahawatta were injured when unidentified people fired shots at them 238 Arrest warrants were issued for three UPFA politicians including deputy minister Premalal Jayasekara in connection with the shooting 239 One of the victims Shantha Dodamgoda succumbed to injuries and died on 7 January 2015 240 241 On election day 8 January 2015 explosions were reported at three locations Navaladi junction near Alvai Nelukkulam Kalaimagal Maha Vidyalayam near Vavuniya and Beruwala 242 Two women were assaulted by UPFA supporters including deputy minister Sarana Gunawardena in Yatiyana 243 Media abuse Edit On 22 November 2014 PEO TV internet protocol television network IPTV and Dialog TV satellite television network had reportedly blocked the Sirasa TV from broadcasting the Satana programme which interviewed the common opposition candidate Sirisena and several other members of opposition 244 Tisara Samal Somaratne a journalist for Hiru TV and Ada newspaper was attacked by UPFA supporters in Eppawala on 5 December 2014 and later threatened by UPFA supporters whilst receiving hospital treatment 245 The 30 November 2014 edition of the Ravaya newspaper contained a story claiming that the State Intelligence Service had carried out a survey which showed that the opposition candidate would win the election by 59 to 41 246 The editor of the paper K W Janaranjana was later interrogated about the story by the Criminal Investigation Department 247 248 According to Ravaya newspaper distributors had been threatened not to sell the paper 249 250 On nomination day 8 December 2014 all English and Sinhala language newspapers in the country carried a front page promotion of Rajapaksa s war victory whilst Tamil language newspapers carried an advertisement showing Rajapaksa re opening the railway line to Jaffna 251 252 All TV stations in Sri Lanka had planned to broadcast Janapathi Janahamuwa a programme featuring Rajapaksa on the evening of 5 January 2015 the last legal day of campaigning which would have prevented other candidates from having access TV 253 254 However on 5 January 2015 the district court in Kaduwela issued an enjoining order barring the stations from broadcasting the programme 255 Naushad Amith a journalist working for Wijeya Newspapers was assaulted by government supporters in Maligawatta on 6 January 2015 as police officers stood by 256 257 Misuse of state resources Edit Transparency International Sri Lanka TISL has documented incidents of state employees including those from Road Development Authority and the Sri Lanka Civil Security Force carrying out election propaganda work for the Rajapaksa campaign 258 259 TISL has also alleged that over 1 000 buses belonging to the state owned Sri Lanka Transport Board had been used to transport people long distances to attend Rajapaksa rallies 260 261 TISL has complained to the Election Commissioner regarding state owned TV stations Rupavahini and Independent Television Network ITN carrying live broadcasts of Rajapaksa rallies a violation of election laws 262 The Election Commissioner has asked the state broadcasters not to broadcast programmes supporting Rajapaksa 263 264 According to TISL government officials were distributing free mobile phones on behalf of the Rajapaksa campaign 265 The UNP has alleged that employees of the state owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority are being used for election propaganda work for the Rajapaksa campaign 266 267 The Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya a pro UNP trade union has alleged that more than 1 000 employees of Colombo Port have been transferred to carry out election work for the Rajapaksa campaign 268 Government employees have been photographed by The Sunday Times putting up Rajapaksa posters on the Southern Expressway 269 The newspaper has also reported that several senior diplomats had been recalled to Sri Lanka to work on Rajapaksa s campaign 270 CaFFE has claimed that 44 prisoners from Galle Prison were used to erect the stage for a Rajapaksa rally at Kamburupitiya on 14 December 2014 271 272 CaFFE has also alleged that senior government officials are openly campaigning for Rajapaksa 273 Rajapaksa s manifesto launch on 23 December 2014 was broadcast live on the state owned Rupavahini TV station 93 274 The opposition has alleged that the army is campaigning for Rajapaksa a charge the army has denied 275 The army was found to have used state money to post Rajapaksa campaign propaganda to hundreds of thousands of soldiers and their families 276 The Sri Lankan government has denied that state resources are being used on the Rajapaksa campaign 277 278 Alleged role of R amp AW Edit It was alleged by a Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Times that Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing had a played in role in uniting the opposition to bring about the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa There had been growing concern in India on the increasing influence of its economic and military rival China in Sri Lankan affairs Rajapaksa further upped the ante by allowing 2 Chinese submarines to dock in 2014 without informing India in spite of a standstill agreement to this effect between India and Sri Lanka The growing Chinese tilt of Rajapaksa was viewed by India with unease Further it was alleged that R amp AW Chief of Station in Colombo helped co ordination of talks within the opposition and convinced former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe not to stand against Rajapaksa but to choose a common opposition candidate who had better chances of winning The agent was also alleged to have been in touch with Chandrika Kumaratunga who played a key role in convincing Maithripala Sirisena to be the common candidate Further it was alleged that the Rajapaksa government had expelled the involved R amp AW Colombo station chief in the run up to presidential election 279 280 281 282 283 284 Such allegations were denied by the Indian Government 285 and the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera 286 Results EditSirsena was declared the winner after receiving 51 28 of all votes cast compared to Rajapaksa s 47 58 287 288 Approximately 58 of Sinhalese voters voted for Rajapaksa while 84 of minority voters voted for Sirisena 289 Turnout was 81 52 the highest for a Sri Lankan presidential election and significantly higher than the 2010 presidential election 290 291 Sirsena won 12 electoral districts whilst Rajapaksa won in the remaining 10 292 Rajapaksa had earlier conceded defeat after meeting Wickremesinghe and assured him of a smooth transition of power 293 294 Rajapaksa then left his official residence the Temple Trees 295 296 He also vacated the President s House 297 Sirisena was sworn in as the sixth executive president of Sri Lanka before Supreme Court judge K Sripavan in Independence Square Colombo at 6 20pm on 9 January 2015 28 29 Normally it is custom for the president to be sworn in before the chief justice however Sirisena had refused to be sworn in before Chief Justice Mohan Peiris who had been controversially appointed by Rajapaksa after the controversial impeachment of the previous chief justice Shirani Bandaranayake 298 299 Immediately afterwards Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka s new prime minister before Sirisena 300 301 After being sworn in Sirisena stated that he would only serve a single term 302 CandidatePartyVotes Maithripala SirisenaNew Democratic Front6 217 16251 28Mahinda RajapaksaSri Lanka Freedom Party5 768 09047 58Ratnayake Arachchige SirisenaPatriotic National Front18 1740 15Namal Ajith RajapaksaOur National Front15 7260 13Maulawi Ibrahim Mohanmed MishlarUnited Peace Front14 3790 12A S P LiyanageSri Lanka Labour Party14 3510 12Ruwanthileke PeduruUnited Lanka People s Party12 4360 10Aithurus M IlliasIndependent10 6180 09Duminda NagamuwaFrontline Socialist Party9 9410 08Siritunga JayasuriyaUnited Socialist Party8 8400 07Sarath ManamendraNew Sinhala Heritage6 8750 06Pani WijesiriwardeneSocialist Equality Party4 2770 04Anurudha PolgampolaIndependent4 2600 04Sundaram MahendranNava Sama Samaja Party4 0470 03Muthu Bandara TheminimullaAll Are Citizens All Are Kings Organisation3 8460 03Battaramulle SeelarathanaJana Setha Peramuna3 7500 03Prasanna PriyankaraDemocratic National Movement2 7930 02Jayantha KulathungaUnited Lanka Great Council2 0610 02Wimal GeeganageSri Lanka National Front1 8260 02Total12 123 452100 00Valid votes12 123 45298 85Invalid blank votes140 9251 15Total votes12 264 377100 00Registered voters turnout15 044 49081 52Source Election CommissionDistrict Edit Districts won by SirisenaDistricts won by RajapaksaElectoralDistrict Province Rajapaksa Sirisena Others Total Valid TurnoutVotes Votes Votes Votes Anuradhapura North Central 281 161 53 59 238 407 45 44 5 065 0 97 524 633 100 00 83 10 Badulla Uva 249 243 49 15 249 524 49 21 8 303 1 64 507 070 100 00 82 99 Batticaloa Eastern 41 631 16 22 209 422 81 62 5 533 2 16 256 586 100 00 70 97 Colombo Western 562 614 43 40 725 073 55 93 8 673 0 67 1 296 360 100 00 82 67 Digamadulla Eastern 121 027 33 82 233 360 65 22 3 430 0 96 357 817 100 00 77 39 Galle Southern 377 126 55 64 293 994 43 37 6 691 0 99 677 811 100 00 83 49 Gampaha Western 664 347 49 49 669 007 49 83 9 142 0 68 1 342 496 100 00 82 88 Hambantota Southern 243 295 63 02 138 708 35 93 4 073 1 05 386 076 100 00 84 13 Jaffna Northern 74 454 21 85 253 574 74 42 12 723 3 73 340 751 100 00 66 28 Kalutara Western 395 890 52 65 349 404 46 46 6 690 0 89 751 984 100 00 84 73 Kandy Central 378 585 44 23 466 994 54 56 10 329 1 21 855 908 100 00 82 63 Kegalle Sabaragamuwa 278 130 51 82 252 533 47 05 6 108 1 14 536 771 100 00 83 60 Kurunegala North Western 556 868 53 46 476 602 45 76 8 154 0 78 1 041 624 100 00 82 98 Matara Southern 297 823 57 81 212 435 41 24 4 892 0 95 515 150 100 00 83 36 Matale Central 158 880 51 41 145 928 47 22 4 214 1 36 309 022 100 00 82 35 Monaragala Uva 172 745 61 45 105 276 37 45 3 095 1 10 281 116 100 00 83 75 Nuwara Eliya Central 145 339 34 06 272 605 63 88 8 822 2 07 426 766 100 00 81 27 Polonnaruwa North Central 105 640 41 27 147 974 57 80 2 382 0 93 255 996 100 00 83 94 Puttalam North Western 197 751 48 97 202 073 50 04 4 026 1 00 403 850 100 00 73 81 Ratnapura Sabaragamuwa 379 053 55 74 292 514 43 01 8 517 1 25 680 084 100 00 84 90 Trincomalee Eastern 52 111 26 67 140 338 71 84 2 907 1 49 195 356 100 00 76 76 Vanni Northern 34 377 19 07 141 417 78 47 4 431 2 46 180 225 100 00 72 57 Total 5 768 090 47 58 6 217 162 51 28 138 200 1 14 12 123 452 100 00 81 52 Maps Edit Winners of polling divisions Majorities according to polling divisions Majorities according to electoral districts Sri Lanka Presidential Election Results 2015Aftermath EditAttempted coup Edit Wikinews has related news Sri Lanka to investigate alleged coup attempt by outgoing president According to Mangala Samaraweera and Rajitha Senaratne senior figures in the Sirisena campaign Rajapaksa attempted to stage a coup in order to stay in power when it became clear he was going to lose the election 303 304 They claimed that Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa then current Defense Secretary summoned Commander of the Army Daya Ratnayake Inspector General of Police N K Illangakoon and Attorney General Yuwanjana Wanasundera to the Temple Trees at around 1 am on 9 January 2015 305 Rajapaksa allegedly pressured the three officials to deploy troops annul the election results and declare a state of emergency however they refused 306 307 According to the Colombo Telegraph Rajapaksa also wished to dissolve parliament 308 It was only then Rajapaksa decided to concede defeat and summoned Wickremesinghe to assure him of a smooth transition of power 309 A spokesman for Rajapaksa dismissed the allegations as baseless 310 311 The army and police have also denied the allegations 312 The Sirisena government subsequently investigated the alleged coup attempt 15 Departures and resignations Edit Central Bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal who had openly campaigned for Rajapaksa resigned from his position on 9 January 2015 313 Minister of Foreign Employment Dilan Perera also resigned 314 The controversial Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera fled to Singapore on election day 315 He was replaced by Arjuna Mahendran 316 B M U D Basnayake was appointed Defence Secretary replacing Rajapaksa s brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa 317 318 Lanka Hospitals Corporation whose biggest shareholder is the state owned Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation announced on 9 January 2015 that its chairman Gotabaya Rajapaksa and vice chair person Roshini Cabraal wife of Ajith Nivard Cabraal had resigned 319 Basil Rajapaksa Minister of Economic Development and another brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa left Sri Lanka with his wife for the United States on 11 January 2015 320 Basil Rajapaksa holds US Sri Lankan dual citizenship 321 322 Senior diplomats who had returned to Sri Lanka to support the Rajapaksa election campaign left the country on the same day 323 Two of aides of Sarath Fonseka Major General Mahesh Senanayake and Brigadier Duminda Keppetiwalana who had fled Sri Lanka after the 2010 presidential election returned to Sri Lanka on 10 January 2015 324 Rajpal Abeynayake and Dinesh Weerawansa editors of the state owned Daily News and Sunday Observer newspapers which had run a venomous campaign against Sirisena in the run up to the election failed to show up for work on 9 January 2015 and had vanished 325 After Sirisena s victory the Daily News made an abrupt u turn praising Sirisena and criticising Rajapaksa 326 Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation chairman Hudson Samarasinghe and Deputy General Manager of ITN Sudharman Radaliyagoda had fled the country according to the Colombo Telegraph Somaratne Dissanayake who had worked for the Rajapaksa regime before defecting to support Sirisena was appointed chairman of the state owned Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation 327 The new administration has said that a special unit will be established to investigate large scale corruption during the Rajapaksa regime 328 On 10 January 2015 minister Nimal Siripala de Silva announced that the UPFA would support Sirisena s 100 day programme unconditionally 329 330 Addressing the nation from Temple of the Tooth the following day Sirisena invited all political parties to join to form a national unity government 331 Shortly afterwards a group of 21 SLFP MPs pledged their support for Sirisena 332 333 According to Sirisena s team has enough support in parliament to secure a majority 334 International reaction Edit Supranational bodies United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating the Sri Lankan people on the successful conclusion of the presidential election singling out the election commission for its professionalism saying that he looked forward to working with Sirisena but re iterating his support for development reconciliation political dialogue and accountability 335 336 European Union Foreign Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating Sirisena saying that the EU looks forward to working with him to further develop its relations with Sri Lanka 337 338 Nations Australia Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop issued a statement on 10 January 2015 congratulating Sri Lankans on a peaceful and orderly election and pledging to support Sirisena as he implements democratic reform good governance and anti corruption measures 339 340 Later Prime Minister Tony Abbott telephoned Sirisena to congratulate him and emphasising continuing cooperation between the countries on people smuggling 341 342 China At a regular press conference on 9 January 2015 Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei congratulated Sirisena saying that China expected new strides made by the Sri Lankan government and people on their course toward national development 343 344 India Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Sirisena after Rajapaksa had conceded defeat congratulating Sirisena and the Sri Lankan people for the peaceful and democratic poll process 345 346 Japan Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida issued a statement on 9 January 2015 welcoming the peaceful and successful holding of the presidential election congratulating Sirisena saying that Japan hopes that all parties concerned in Sri Lanka will work together to further promote national reconciliation democracy and economic development 347 348 Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating the Sri Lankan people and Sirisena saying that she looked forward to working with the new government to promote a peaceful inclusive and democratic Sri Lanka 349 350 United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating Sirisena and encouraging him to co operate with UN investigation into alleged war crimes so that the issues of the past can be addressed and the country can move forward to a brighter peaceful future where all Sri Lankans can play a role 351 352 Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also issued a statement commending the Sri Lanka people on the successful completion of their elections and congratulating Sirisena saying he looked forward to working with the new government and reinvigorating the long standing partnership between the UK and Sri Lanka 353 354 United States President Barack Obama issued a statement on 9 January 2015 congratulating the people of Sri Lanka on the successful and peaceful conclusion to the election and Sirisena on his victory saying that it was a symbol of hope for those who support democracy all around the world 355 356 Secretary of State John Kerry also issued a statement praising Sri Lanka people on the successful conclusion of their elections commending Rajapaksa for accepting the resulting and saying that he looked forward to working with President elect Maithripala Sirisena 357 358 Notes EditReferences Edit Presidential poll Jan 8 Nominations on Dec 8 Daily Mirror 21 November 2014 South Asia Sri Lanka s Rajapaksa facing electoral rebellion Deutsche Welle 21 November 2014 Sri Lanka calls early presidential elections BBC News 20 October 2014 Sri Lanka president calls early election Al Jazeera 20 November 2014 Sri Lanka election Health chief to challenge Rajapaksa BBC News 21 November 2014 Sri Lankan minister quits to challenge Rajapaksa for presidency Reuters 21 November 2014 Ben Doherty Munk David 9 January 2015 Sri Lanka election president Mahinda Rajapaksa concedes defeat live The Guardian Sundarji Padma Rao Jacob Jayanth Jacob 9 January 2015 Mighty Rajapaksa stunned Sirisena is new Lanka Prez Hindustan Times Archived from the original on January 9 2015 Sri Lanka s Rajapaksa suffers shock election defeat BBC News 9 January 2015 Koutsoukis Jason 10 January 2015 Sri Lanka election shock result as president Mahinda Rajapaksa is tossed out The Sydney Morning Herald Pasricha Anjana 9 January 2015 Sri Lanka Swears In New President Voice of America Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 9 January 2015 Hume Tim Athas Iqbal 9 January 2015 Sri Lanka s Mahinda Rajapaksa concedes defeat in presidential elections CNN Kumar Nikhil 9 January 2015 Sri Lanka Looks to Chart a New Course After Ousting Mahinda Rajapaksa Time Sri Lanka election winner Sirisena pledges to reform the state The Japan Times 9 January 2015 a b Sri Lanka to investigate Rajapaksa coup and conspiracy attempt Deutsche Welle 11 January 2015 a b Warnakulasuriya Deepal 20 October 2014 Presidential Election due in January 2015 The Nation Sri Lanka Archived from the original on 22 October 2014 Retrieved 20 October 2014 a b Aneez Shihar Sirilal Ranga 5 November 2014 Sri Lankan president seeks Supreme Court nod for third term Reuters a b PART I SECTION I GENERAL Proclamations amp c by the President BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT Proclamation PDF The Sri Lanka Gazette 1889 31 20 November 2014 Archived from the original PDF on 29 November 2014 Retrieved 21 November 2014 a b SL presidential election to be held on January 08 2015 TamilNet 21 November 2014 a b Mallawarachi Bharatha 8 December 2014 19 Candidates Vie for Sri Lankan Presidency ABC News Associated Press a b Video Presidential Election postal voting on Dec 23 24 The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka 25 November 2014 a b Postal Voting on December 23 and 24 Ceylon Today 26 November 2014 Archived from the original on 24 August 2015 Retrieved 26 November 2014 Sri Lanka s Mahinda Rajapaksa faces crucial poll BBC News 8 January 2015 Sri Lanka s election dog heads threats and Charlie Hebdo Channel 4 News 8 January 2015 Voting ends in peaceful manner permanent dead link Voting for Presidential Poll begins Government of Sri Lanka 8 January 2015 Archived from the original on 11 January 2015 Retrieved 11 January 2015 Sri Lanka election Maithripala Sirisena elected president in surprise result as it happened The Guardian Retrieved 10 January 2015 a b Sirisena sworn in as Sri Lanka president Al Jazeera 9 January 2015 a b Maithri sworn in The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka 9 January 2015 Bastians Dharisha 2 January 2014 Constitutional tangles in an election year Daily FT Archived from the original on 20 October 2014 Presidential election to be held first TamilNet 23 November 2009 Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa hails victory BBC News 28 January 2010 Mahinda Rajapakse declared sixth executive president of Sri Lanka TamilNet 27 January 2010 Sri Lanka court extends President Rajapaksa s tenure BBC News 2 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for granting dual citizenship Colombo Page 2 November 2014 Adhikari Deepa 11 January 2015 Sri Lankan diplomats leave The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka Two senior military officers return Sunday Island Sri Lanka 11 January 2015 Rajapaksa Henchmen Rajpal And Dinesh Missing Colombo Telegraph 10 January 2015 Sri Lanka s press welcome Sirisena Hindustan Times Agence France Presse 10 January 2015 Archived from the original on January 10 2015 SLRC Chairman assumes duties The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka 11 January 2015 Perera Yohan Desmond Sanath 11 January 2015 Video None will be spared JHU The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka Ferdinando Shamindra 11 January 2015 UPFA promises unconditional support for 100 day program Sunday Island Sri Lanka Desmond Santh 10 January 2015 Video UPFA supports Common Opposition s 100 day programme The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka Come join us to form unity Govt President The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka 11 January 2015 Over 20 SLFP MPs pledge support to President Sirisena The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka 11 January 2015 Several Lankan MPs Cross Over to Sirisena Camp as Rival Central Committees Meet The New Indian Express Express News Service 11 January 2015 Maithri secures Parliamentary majority The Nation Sri Lanka 11 January 2015 Archived from the original on 11 January 2015 Retrieved 11 January 2015 Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary General on Sri Lanka s presidential elections United Nations Secretariat 9 January 2015 Ban Ready To Work With Maithri The Sunday Leader 11 January 2015 Statement by High Representative Vice President Federica Mogherini on the presidential elections in Sri Lanka European Union 9 January 2015 EU congrats president Maithripala Sirisena The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka 10 January 2015 Sri Lanka Presidential Elections Minister for Foreign Affairs Australia 10 January 2015 Australia keen to work with new government to develop strong bilateral relationship Foreign Affairs Minister Sunday Island Sri Lanka 11 January 2015 Wahlquist Calla 11 January 2015 Tony Abbott calls new Sri Lankan leader to emphasise cooperation on boats The Guardian Abbott heralds new Sri Lanka president Special Broadcasting Service Australian Associated Press 11 January 2015 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei s Regular Press Conference on January 9 2015 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People s Republic of China 9 January 2015 China congratulates President Sirisena The Island Sri Lanka 10 January 2015 Modi congratulates Maithri The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka 9 January 2015 Borham Maneshka 9 January 2015 Modi congratulates Maithri The Nation Sri Lanka Archived from the original on 10 January 2015 Retrieved 9 January 2015 Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan on the Presidential Election in Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan 9 January 2015 Japan congratulates Sirisena commends smooth transition of power The Island Sri Lanka 10 January 2015 Prime Minister Solberg congratulates Sri Lanka s new president Prime Minister of Norway 9 January 2015 Norway Australia Offer Support The Sunday Leader 11 January 2015 Prime Minister congratulates the new Sri Lankan President Prime Minister s Office 9 January 2015 David Cameron congratulates Maithripala Sirisena Sunday Island Sri Lanka 11 January 2015 Philip Hammond today congratulated the newly elected President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena Foreign and Commonwealth Office 9 January 2015 Opportunity for SL to grow and reflect the wishes of all its people says UK Foreign Secretary Tamil Guardian 9 January 2015 Statement by the President on the Election in Sri Lanka whitehouse gov 9 January 2015 via National Archives President Barack Obama on Sri Lanka s presidential election Sunday Island Sri Lanka 11 January 2015 Conclusion of Sri Lankan Elections and Election of Maithripala Sirisena United States Department of State 8 January 2015 U S looks forward to working with Sri Lankan President elect Maithripala Sirisena The Hindu Press Trust of India 9 January 2015 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sri Lankan presidential election 2015 Sri Lanka portal Politics portalGeneralDepartment of Elections Archived 2021 03 31 at the Wayback Machine Sri Lankan presidential election 2015 analysis Upali Newspapers Centre for Monitoring Election Violence CMEV Manifestos Mahinda s Vision The World Winning Path Election manifesto of Mahinda Rajapaksa English Mahinda Chinthana Lova Dinana Maga Election manifesto of Mahinda Rajapaksa Sinhala A Compassionate Maithri Governance A Stable Country Election manifesto of Maithripala Sirisena English A Compassionate Maithri Governance A Stable Country Election manifesto of Maithripala Sirisena Sinhala Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election amp oldid 1134231036, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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