Sri Lankan presidential election, 1988
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The 1988 Sri Lankan presidential election saw the United National Party retain the presidency.
[edit] Background
During the 1988 election, Sri Lanka was in chaos. In the north and east, soldiers of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force battled Tamil Tiger rebels. In the south, government death squads engaged in deadly violence with equally brutal militants of the Sinhala-nationalist JVP. Effective campaigning by the democratic opposition was barely possible.
Both of the major party candidates promised to abrogate the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord negotiated by outgoing UNP president J.R. Jayewardene and ask Indian troops to leave the country.
Voting was not held in Tiger-controlled areas of the north and east, and violence marred election day in the south.
[edit] Results
Aided by its control of the state-owned media, the UNP candidate, Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, won a narrow but firm victory.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranasinghe Premadasa | United National Party | 2,569,199 | 50.4 |
| Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 2,289,860 | 45.0 |
| Oswin Abeygunasekara | Sri Lanka Mahajana Party | 235,719 | 4.6 |
| Total | 5,088,788 | 100.0 | |
| Invalid votes | 91,445 | ||
| Total cast | 5,186,223 | ||
Source: [1]
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