Presidential Election of Sri Lanka 2015: Summary

Presidential Election of Sri Lanka 2015: Summary

Outline 2 Slide Description Slide Number Background to the 2015 Presidential Election 03 The Main Candidates 04 Official Results 05 Next Steps 06 Key Policies of the New President 07 Appendix 02: Candidate Profile Maithripala Sirisena 09 Appendix 03: Candidate Profile Mahinda Rajapaksa 10

Background to the 2015 Presidential Election 3 - According to the constitution, the normal term of office for a President is six years, though it allows an incumbent President to call early elections after four years in office. - The former President Mahinda Rajapaksa s term was to officially end in 2016, however he called for elections on the 08 th January 2015. - There were 19 candidates. - Former President Rajapaksa was competing for his third term under the coalition party - UPFA (United People s Freedom Alliance). He is the leader of the SLFP (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) which is the main party within this coalition. - The then President s main opponent was parliament member Maithripala Sirisena. He was the former Minister of Health under the UPFA led government till November 2014. Additionally he was also the General Secretary of the SLFP until the same time period. He resigned from his Ministerial post and became the common candidate under the political party NDF (New Democratic Front) which also has the support of many minority parties. The main party in the NDF alliance is the UNP (United National Party) which is Sri Lanka s main opposition party.

The Main Candidates 4 Sort 3 rd Term in Office Mahinda Rajapaksa (Outgoing President) Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena (New President) Detailed Profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mahinda_rajapaksa Detailed Profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/maithripala_sirisena

Official Results As at 2015 Sri Lanka has 15,044,490 eligible voters. There were 12,314 polling stations in 22 administrative districts for the Presidential election held on the 08th of January 2015. The winner of Sri Lanka s 2015 Presidential Election was Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena who secured 51.28% of votes cast. 5

Next Steps 6 - The common candidate Maithripala Sirisena took his oath of office on the 09 th January at 06.21pm. - He then appointed the leader of the opposition Ranil Wickramasinghe as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. - He is expected to appoint a new Cabinet of Ministers with a maximum of 25 members. - He is expected not to dissolve Parliament immediately and will run with the same Parliament till April this year and thereafter dissolve it and call for General Elections. General Elections are expected to take place during April 2015, according to the Common Candidate s published plan of action. - Following the General Election, the Prime Minister will be appointed from the party getting the highest number of seats at such an election, with a Deputy Prime Minister from the party getting the next highest number.

Key Policies of the New President - The Manifesto of the new President Maithripala Sirisena can be found via the link: http://www.maithripalas.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/manifesto-english-for-proof-reading.pdf - The new President also declared a 100 Day Work Plan starting from the 10 th January 23 rd April 2015. This summarizes his planned crucial activities for the next 100 days from being declared the winner on the 09 th of January 2015. - A detailed description of this 100 Day Work Plan can be found via the link: https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/maithripala-sirisenas-100-day-work-programme-detailed-diary-description/ - Key points to be noted from the 100 day plan; Abolish the Executive Presidency of Sri Lanka which in the past has given undue power over the Judicial System, The Police, Public Service and Elections Commission to the President. Replace the current Preference Voting system and replace it with an Mixed Electoral System, with mechanisms for proportionality. Repeal the 18th Amendment to the Constitution with legislation to establish and strengthen and independent institutions. Dissolve Parliament and hold General Elections (23 rd April is the proposed date). Establish a National Government consisting of all parties represented in Parliament. 7

Thank You 8

Appendix 02: Candidate Profile 9

Appendix 03: Candidate Profile 10