1999 Sri Lankan presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 21 December 1999. Nominations were accepted on 16 November 1999 and voter turnout was 73%. Incumbent President Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's Alliance was re-elected for a second term, receiving 51% of the vote.

1999 Sri Lankan presidential election

← 1994 21 December 1999 2005 →
Turnout	73.31% ( 2.84pp)
Nominee Chandrika Kumaratunga Ranil Wickremesinghe Party SLFP UNP Alliance People's Alliance — Popular vote 4,312,157 3,602,748 Percentage 51.12% 42.71%
Results by polling division
President before election Chandrika Kumaratunga SLFP Elected President Chandrika Kumaratunga SLFP

Background

Sri Lankan presidents were elected for six-year terms; with the previous election having taken place in 1994, an election normally would not have been held until 2000. Kumaratunga called the election early.

Kumaratunga campaigned to continue her actions against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, while her main opponent Ranil Wickremasinghe called for the commencement of direct negotiations with the Tigers.

Three days before the election, Kumaratunga was nearly killed by an LTTE assassination attempt at her final rally. She lost her right eye, and appeared heavily bandaged on television before the election.

Results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Chandrika Kumaratunga	People's Alliance	4,312,157	51.12
	Ranil Wickremasinghe	United National Party	3,602,748	42.71
	Nandana Gunathilake	Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna	344,173	4.08
	Harischandra Wijayatunga	Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya	35,854	0.43
	W. V. M. Ranjith	Independent	27,052	0.32
	Rajiva Wijesinha	Liberal Party	25,085	0.30
	Vasudeva Nanayakkara	Left & Democratic Alliance	23,668	0.28
	Tennyson Edirisuriya	Independent	21,119	0.25
	Abdul Rasool	Sri Lanka Muslim Party	17,359	0.21
	Kamal Karunadasa	People's Liberation Solidarity Front	11,333	0.13
	Hudson Samarasinghe	Independent	7,184	0.09
	Ariyawansa Dissanayaka	Democratic United National Front	4,039	0.05
	A. W. Premawardhana	Bahujana Nidahas Peramuna	3,983	0.05
Total			8,435,754	100.00
Valid votes			8,435,754	97.69
Invalid/blank votes			199,536	2.31
Total votes			8,635,290	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			11,779,200	73.31
Source: Election Commission