1982 Sri Lankan presidential election

Inaugural Sri Lankan presidential election

20 October 1982

1988 →

Turnout

81.06%


Nominee	J. R. Jayewardene	Hector Kobbekaduwa
Party	UNP	SLFP
Popular vote	3,450,811	2,548,438
Percentage	52.91%	39.07%

Winners of polling divisions. Jayewardene in green and Kobbekaduwa in blue.

President before election

J. R. Jayewardene
UNP

Elected President

J. R. Jayewardene
UNP

The 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election was the inaugural presidential election, held on 20 October 1982. Incumbent president J. R. Jayewardene of the governing United National Party was re-elected, receiving 53% of all valid votes cast, defeating his main opponent Hector Kobbekaduwa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

Background

After winning a landslide victory in the 1977 general elections, prime minister J. R. Jayawardene introduced the Executive Presidency through the 1978 constitutional reforms. Consequently, prime minister J. R. Jayawardene was inaugurated as the 1st Executive President of Sri Lanka on 4 February 1978.

Under the Provisions of the Constitution, the president is elected to a six-year term and can call for an early presidential election after completing four years of her or his first term. When president Jayawardene's first four years of his first term concluded on 4 February 1978, he decided to call an early presidential election and sought reelection for a second term.

Nominations were accepted on 17 September 1982 and voter turnout was 81.06%. The election was described as a fight between capitalism and socialism: Kobbekaduwa, who advocated to carry on the policies of the previous SLFP-led regime of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was expected to undo most of the open market and capitalist reforms brought in by president Jayewardene.

Results


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	J. R. Jayewardene	United National Party	3,450,811	52.91
	Hector Kobbekaduwa	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	2,548,438	39.07
	Rohana Wijeweera	Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna	273,428	4.19
	Kumar Ponnambalam	All Ceylon Tamil Congress	173,934	2.67
	Colvin R. de Silva	Lanka Sama Samaja Party	58,531	0.90
	Vasudeva Nanayakkara	Nava Sama Samaja Party	17,005	0.26
Total			6,522,147	100.00

Valid votes			6,522,147	98.78
Invalid/blank votes			80,470	1.22
Total votes			6,602,617	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			8,145,015	81.06
Source: Election Commission

District

Districts won by Jayewardene

Districts won by Ponnambalam

Summary of the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election by electoral district
Electoral District	Province	Jayewardene		Kobbekaduwa		Others		Total Valid	Rejected Votes	Total Polled	Registered Electors	Turnout

		Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Ampara	Eastern	90,772	56.39%	53,096	32.99%	17,102	10.62%	160,970	2,101	163,071	204,268	79.83%
Anuradhapura	North Central	117,873	49.84%	102,973	43.54%	15,677	6.63%	236,523	2,294	238,817	278,594	85.72%
Badulla	Uva	141,062	58.67%	88,462	36.79%	10,916	4.54%	240,440	2,982	243,422	280,187	86.88%
Batticaloa	Eastern	48,094	40.05%	21,688	18.06%	50,294	41.89%	120,076	2,879	122,955	172,480	71.29%
Colombo	Western	436,290	57.71%	276,476	36.57%	43,265	5.72%	756,031	7,990	764,021	972,196	78.59%
Galle	Southern	211,544	50.23%	180,925	42.96%	28,669	6.81%	421,138	5,198	426,336	512,489	83.19%
Gampaha	Western	365,838	52.50%	301,808	43.31%	29,192	4.19%	696,838	5,992	702,830	835,265	84.14%
Hambantota	Southern	90,545	45.90%	76,402	38.73%	30,331	15.37%	197,278	1,804	199,082	241,956	82.28%
Jaffna	Northern	44,780	20.54%	77,300	35.46%	95,923	44.00%	218,003	10,610	228,613	493,705	46.31%
Kalutara	Western	211,592	50.15%	185,874	44.06%	24,426	5.79%	421,892	5,290	427,182	499,215	85.57%
Kandy	Central	289,621	59.80%	178,647	36.89%	16,029	3.31%	484,297	4,548	488,845	564,767	86.56%
Kegalle	Sabaragamuwa	195,444	57.02%	126,538	36.92%	20,780	6.06%	342,762	4,537	347,299	406,548	85.43%
Kurunegala	North Western	345,769	55.77%	248,479	40.08%	25,730	4.15%	619,978	5,431	625,409	717,505	87.16%
Matale	Central	94,031	58.11%	59,299	36.65%	8,484	5.24%	161,814	1,414	163,228	187,276	87.16%
Matara	Southern	164,725	49.32%	144,587	43.29%	24,671	7.39%	333,983	3,091	337,074	399,888	84.29%
Monaragala	Uva	51,264	49.38%	44,115	42.49%	8,442	8.13%	103,821	1,553	105,374	126,558	83.26%
Nuwara Eliya	Central	109,017	63.10%	57,093	33.05%	6,659	3.85%	172,769	2,048	174,817	201,878	86.60%
Polonnaruwa	North Central	59,414	56.26%	37,243	35.26%	8,958	8.48%	105,615	1,064	106,679	127,624	83.59%
Puttalam	North Western	128,877	59.12%	80,006	36.70%	9,097	4.17%	217,980	1,995	219,975	267,675	82.18%
Ratnapura	Sabaragamuwa	175,903	50.90%	152,506	44.13%	17,195	4.98%	345,604	3,407	349,011	402,202	86.78%
Trincomalee	Eastern	45,522	48.64%	31,700	33.87%	16,374	17.49%	93,596	1,795	95,391	133,646	71.38%
Vanni	Northern	32,834	46.42%	23,221	32.83%	14,684	20.76%	70,739	2,447	73,186	119,093	61.45%
Total		3,450,811	52.91%	2,548,438	39.07%	522,898	8.02%	6,522,147	80,470	6,602,617	8,145,015	81.06%

References

Selbourne, David (1983). "The Sri Lankan elections, Oct.–Dec. 1982". Electoral Studies. 2 (2): 175–177. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(83)90062-8. ISSN 0261-3794.
Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A. (1983). "Sri Lanka in 1982: A Year of Elections". Asian Survey. 23 (2): 158–164. doi:10.2307/2644347. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2644347.
Stevens, William K. (20 October 1982). "Election in Sri Lanka Capitalism Versus Socialism". The New York Times.
"Presidential Election – 20.10.1982: All Island Results - By Electoral Districts" (PDF). Colombo, Sri Lanka: Election Commission of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 24 November 2019.

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