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Election
2005 Sri Lankan presidential election Turnout 73.73%
Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 17 November 2005. Nominations were accepted on 7 September 2005 and electoral participation was 73.73%. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa of the governing United People's Freedom Alliance was elected, receiving 50.3% of all votes cast.
Presidential term controversy [ edit ]
At first, there was doubt whether the election would be held at all. President Chandrika Kumaratunga had called the 1999 election one year ahead of schedule; she argued that the extra year should be appended to her second term, and filed suit to do this. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka rejected her claims and the election went ahead.
Campaign [ edit ]
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa quickly emerged as the candidate for the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Ranil Wickremesinghe for the United National Party . Both candidates tried to round up the support of minor parties. Rajapaksa needed to re-assemble the alliance with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna that existed at the parliamentary level (the United People's Freedom Alliance ). After he agreed to reject federalism and renegotiate the ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , the JVP and the Jathika Hela Urumaya endorsed him.
After that, Wickremesinghe's only hope of victory was through the support of the island's ethnic minorities, given his generally more conciliatory stance on the ethnic issue. He secured the endorsement of the main Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress , and the Ceylon Workers' Congress representing the estate Tamils . He could not, however, obtain the backing of the main Sri Lankan Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance . Any hopes for Wickremesinghe's victory were effectively dashed when the LTTE ordered Tamil voters, most of whom would likely have voted for him, to boycott the polls.
Economic issues also worked to Rajapaksa's favour. Sri Lanka had enjoyed strong growth under Wickremesinghe's free-market policies when he was prime minister from 2001 to 2004, but he had also pursued controversial privatizations which Rajapaksa promised to halt. Rajapaksa also promised a policy of economic nationalism .
Results [ edit ]
Candidate Party Votes % Mahinda Rajapaksa Sri Lanka Freedom Party 4,887,152 50.29 Ranil Wickremesinghe United National Party 4,706,366 48.43 Siritunga Jayasuriya United Socialist Party 35,425 0.36 A. A. Suraweera National Development Front 31,238 0.32 Victor Hettigoda United Lanka People's Party 14,458 0.15 Chamil Jayaneththi New Left Front 9,296 0.10 Aruna de Soyza Ruhuna People's Party 7,685 0.08 Wimal Geeganage Sri Lanka National Front 6,639 0.07 Anura de Silva United Lalith Front 6,357 0.07 Ajith Arachchige Democratic Unity Alliance 5,082 0.05 Wije Dias Socialist Equality Party 3,500 0.04 Nelson Perera Sri Lanka Progressive Front 2,525 0.03 Hewaheenipellage Dharmadwaja United National Alternative Front 1,316 0.01 Total 9,717,039 100.00 Valid votes 9,717,039 98.88 Invalid/blank votes 109,739 1.12 Total votes 9,826,778 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 13,327,160 73.73 Source: Election Commission
District results [ edit ]
Summary of the 2005 Sri Lankan presidential election by electoral district[1]
District
Province
Rajapaksa
Wickremesinghe
Others
Turnout
Votes
%
Votes
%
Votes
%
Colombo
Western
534,431
47.96%
569,627
51.12%
10,192
0.92%
76.75%
Gampaha
Western
596,698
54.78%
481,764
44.23%
10,815
0.99%
80.71%
Kalutara
Western
341,693
55.48%
266,043
43.20%
8,124
1.32%
81.43%
Kandy
Central
315,672
44.30%
387,150
54.33%
9,798
1.37%
79.65%
Matale
Central
120,533
48.09%
125,937
50.25%
4,150
1.66%
79.04%
Nuwara Eliya
Central
99,550
27.97%
250,428
70.37%
5,897
1.66%
80.78%
Galle
Southern
347,223
58.41%
239320
40.26%
7,925
1.33%
81.94%
Matara
Southern
279411
61.85%
165827
36.71%
6,484
1.44%
80.96%
Hambantota
Southern
202,918
63.43%
112,712
35.23%
4,295
1.34%
81.41%
Jaffna
Northern
1,967
25.00%
5,523
70.20%
1,034
4.8%
1.21%
Vanni
Northern
17,197
20.36%
65,798
77.89%
2,879
1.75%
34.30%
Batticaloa
Eastern
28,836
18.87%
121,514
79.51%
4,265
1.62%
48.51%
Ampara
Eastern
122,329
42.88%
159,198
55.81%
6,681
1.31%
72.7%
Trincomalee
Eastern
55,680
37.04%
92,197
61.33%
4,551
1.63%
63.84%
Kurunegala
North Western
468,507
52.56%
418,809
46.72%
17,639
0.72%
80.51%
Puttalam
North Western
160,686
48.14%
169,264
50.71%
3,833
1.15%
71.68%
Anuradhapura
North Central
231,040
55.08%
182,956
42.62%
5,438
2.3%
78.98%
Polonnaruwa
North Central
110,499
52.61%
97,142
46.25%
2,389
1.14%
80.43%
Badulla
Uva
192,734
45.18%
226,582
53.11%
7,283
1.71%
81.29%
Monaragala
Uva
126,094
56.94%
92,244
41.65%
3,112
1.41%
81.16%
Ratnapura
Sabaragamuwa
294,260
53.01%
252,838
45.55%
7,976
1.44%
83.89%
Kegalle
Sabaragamuwa
239,184
51.02%
223,483
47.67%
6,106
1.31%
81.19%
Total
4,887,152
50.29%
4,706,366
48.43%
123,521
1.28%
73.73%
Winners of polling divisions
Majorities according to polling divisions
Majorities according to electoral districts
References [ edit ]
Direct elections Indirect elections
Presidency Premierships Electoral history
Parliamentary
Presidential
Family Related