Election
4th Sri Lankan presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 21 December 1999. They were the fourth presidential elections held in the country's history. Incumbent president Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's Alliance was re-elected for a second term, receiving 51% of the vote, defeating her main opponent Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “1999 Sri Lankan presidential election”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 21 December 1999. They were the fourth presidential elections held in the country's history. Incumbent president Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's Alliance was re-elected for a second term, receiving 51% of the vote, defeating her main opponent Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party.
Chandrika Kumaratunga assumed office on 12 November 1994, after winning that year's presidential election. Under the provisions of the Constitution, the president was elected to a six-year term and could call an early presidential election after completing four years of the first term. President Kumaratunga decided to call an early election, as she was constitutionally eligible, since four years of her first term were completed on 12 November 1998. She announced the Proclamation through Gazette Extraordinary No. 1102/22 on 20 October 1999.
Nominations were accepted from 9:00 am to 11:00 am IST on 16 November 1999. The election date, 21 December 1999, was announced via Gazette Extraordinary No. 531/12 on the same day.
President Kumaratunga declared her intention to run for a second term, campaigning to continue her actions against the LTTE in the country's then-ongoing civil war. The United National Party nominated Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as its candidate, who called for direct negotiations with the LTTE.
During the campaign, the UNP proposed a live presidential debate between Wickremesinghe and Kumaratunga to discuss major national issues, particularly the conflict with the LTTE, economic policies, and governance. Kumaratunga declined to participate, and as a result, the debate never took place.
On 18 December 1999, three days before the election, Kumaratunga was seriously wounded in a suicide-bomb attack at her final election rally in Colombo. The attack was carried out by a female LTTE suicide bomber. The blast killed dozens, including members of her security detail, senior police officers, journalists, and bystanders, and left over 100 others injured. Kumaratunga survived, but lost vision in her right eye and sustained facial injuries. Despite her injuries, she was sworn in for a second term on 22 December 1999 while still bandaged, vowing to fight terrorism and restore peace.
The results were officially declared on 22 December 1999, with Chandrika Kumaratunga winning a second term. She was sworn in later that same day at the Temple Trees, only hours after the announcement of the final results.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1999 Sri Lankan presidential election”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.