List of Presidents of Sri Lanka (1972-2024)

President of Sri Lanka: The President of Sri Lanka is the democratically elected head of state and chief executive. The President of Sri Lanka is the country’s principal political figure; earlier, the position was more of a ceremonial position. The office of the President of Sri Lanka was established in 1972 and later given executive powers under the 1978 Constitution proposed by JR Jayewardene. In the list of Presidents of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 2022, the first President is William Gopalava. He served as the last Governor-General and the first (non-executive) President of Ceylon when it was declared a republic in 1972 and renamed Sri Lanka. See the full list of Presidents of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 2022 below.

The current President of Sri Lanka is Ranil Wickremesinghe. He took office on 21 July 2022 after being elected by Parliament to serve the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term until November 2024. Wickremesinghe has served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka six times. He became Acting President on 13 July 2022 after Rajapaksa fled the country amid the ongoing economic crisis and protests.

List of Presidents of Sri Lanka

Serial number president Position
1 William Gopalava May 22, 1972 – February 4, 1978
2 Junius Richard Jayewardene February 4, 1978 – January 2, 1989
3 Ranasinghe Premadasa January 2, 1989 – May 1, 1993
4 Dingiri Banda Wijetunga May 1, 1993 – November 12, 1994
5 Chandrika Kumaratunga November 12, 1994 – November 19, 2005
6 Mahinda Rajapaksa November 19, 2005 – January 9, 2015
7 Maithripala Sirisena January 9, 2015 – November 19, 2019
8 Gotabaya Rajapaksa November 19, 2019 – July 13, 2022
9 Ranil Wickremesinghe (Acting) July 13, 2022 – July 21, 2022
10 Ranil Wickremesinghe July 21, 2022 – Present (until September 2024)

How is the Sri Lankan president elected?

qualified

Candidates for the presidency of Sri Lanka must meet eligibility criteria, including being nominated by a recognized political party or an elected member of the legislature. Anyone who has been elected president by the people twice shall no longer be eligible to be elected president by the people thereafter.

Selection Process

The President of Sri Lanka is elected by a nationwide presidential election for a five-year term. The elected President of Sri Lanka can be re-elected for a maximum of two terms, each term starting from the date of public swearing-in.