1982 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

|

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka for the first time on 20 October 1982. Incumbent president J. R. Jayewardene of the governing United National Party was re-elected, receiving 53% of all votes cast and defeating his main opponent Hector Kobbekaduwa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.[1][2]

Nominations were accepted on 17 September 1982 and electoral participation 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.[3]

## Results

[edit]

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

[edit]

Districts won by Jayewardene

Districts won by Ponnambalam
Summary of the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election by electoral district[4] Electoral
District | Province | Jayewardene | Kobbekaduwa | Others | Total
Valid | Rejected
Votes | Total
Polled | Registered
Electors | Turnout

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|
|

|  |
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

[edit]

1. ^ 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.
2. ^ 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.
3. ^ Stevens, William K. (20 October 1982). "Election in Sri Lanka Capitalism Versus Socialism". The New York Times.
4. ^ "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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