Presidential elections were held in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

on 17 November 2005. Nominations were accepted on 7 September 2005 and electoral participation was 73.73%.

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

of the governing

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance ( abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக ...

was elected, receiving 50.3% of all votes cast.

Presidential term controversy

At first, there was doubt whether the election would be held at all. President

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

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 The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය, Sri Lanka Sreshthadikaranaya; ta, இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம், Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is th ...

rejected her claims and the election went ahead.

Campaign

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa quickly emerged as the candidate for the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

and Ranil Wickramasinghe for the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

. Both candidates tried to round up the support of minor parties. Rajapaksa needed to re-assemble the alliance with the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anothe ...

that existed at the parliamentary level (the

). After he agreed to reject

federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments ( provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single ...

and renegotiate the ceasefire with the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

, the JVP and the

Jathika Hela Urumaya The Jathika Hela Urumaya ( si, ජාතික හෙළ උරුමය, ta, ஈழ மக்கள் கழகம், often approximated in English as National Heritage Party) is a nationalist political party in Sri Lanka. The JHU was launched ...

endorsed him. After that, Wickremasinghe's only real 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 Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

party, the

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress ( ta, சிறீலங்கா முஸ்லீம் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Srīlaṅkā Muslīm Kāṅkiras; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රස� ...

, and the

Ceylon Workers' Congress The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) ( ta, இலங்கை தொழிலாளர் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Ilaṅkai Toḻilāḷar Kāṅkiras; si, ලංකා කම්කරු කොංග්‍රසය ''Lanka Kamkaru ...

representing the estate Tamils. He could not, however, obtain the backing of the main

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern P ...

party, the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lank ...

. Wickremasinghe's hopes for 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 Wickremasinghe's free-market policies when he was prime minister from 2001 to 2004, but he had also pursued controversial

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

s which Rajapaksa promised to halt. Rajapaksa also promised a policy of

economic nationalism Economic nationalism, also called economic patriotism and economic populism, is an ideology that favors state interventionism over other market mechanisms, with policies such as domestic control of the economy, labor, and capital formation, inclu ...

Results

District results

Official district-by-district results of the election are listed below:

Maps

File:Sri Lankan Presidential Election 2005.png, Winners of polling divisions Wahlkreiskarte Praesidentschaft Sri Lanka 2005.svg, Majorities according to polling divisions Wahlbezirkskarte Praesidentschaft Sri Lanka 2005.svg, Majorities according to electoral districts

References

* * * * {{Ranil Wickremesinghe Presidential elections in Sri Lanka

2005 in Sri Lanka

Mahinda Rajapaksa Ranil Wickremesinghe