List of presidents of Sri Lanka

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Multiple image The president of Sri Lanka is the elected head of state and the chief executive of Sri Lanka. The president is a dominant political figure in the country. The office was created in 1972, as more of a ceremonial position. It was empowered with executive powers by the 1978 Constitution introduced by J. R. Jayewardene.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Presidents

Parties

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No.		Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office Electoral mandates Time in office		Other ministerial offices held while president	Party Template:Small	Government		Template:Abbr
Non-Executive President (1972–1978)
rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	1	File:JFKWHP-AR6771-B (cropped).jpg	File:President Gopallawa's flag.gif William Gopallawa විලියම් ගොපල්ලව வில்லியம் கோபள்ளவா Template:Small	Template:Small 1972	Template:Small 1978		Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
—
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Executive President of Sri Lanka (1978–present)
rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	2	File:J. R. Jayawardene, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on June 20, 1984.jpg	File:Junius Jayawardene's flag.gif Junius Richard Jayewardene ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா Template:Small	Template:Small 1978	Template:Small 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1982
Template:Small
Template:Small
rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	3	File:Ranasinghe Premadasa.jpeg	File:Ranasinghe Premadasa's flag .gif Template:Small Ranasinghe Premadasa රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா Template:Small	Template:Small 1989	Template:Small 1993†	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1988
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Template:Small
rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	4		File:DBWijethunge President Standard .jpg Template:Small Dingiri Banda Wijetunga ඩිංගිරි බණ්ඩා විජේතුංග டிங்கிரி பண்ட விஜேதுங்க Template:Small	Template:Small 1993	Template:Small 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Small 1993				Template:Small 1994
1993Template:Efn				Template:Small	Template:Small
Template:Small
Template:Small
rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	5	File:Chandrika Kumaratunga with PM Modi (cropped).jpg	File:Presidential Flag of Chandrika Kumaratunga.gif Chandrika Kumaratunga චන්ද්‍රිකා කුමාරතුංග சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்கே குமாரதுங்கா Template:Small	Template:Small 1994	Template:Small 2005	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1994, 1999				Template:Small
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rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	6	File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi with the Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi on February 08, 2020 (cropped).jpg	File:Presidential Flag of Mahinda Rajapaksa.gif Mahinda Rajapaksa මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ Template:Small	Template:Small 2005	Template:Small 2015	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2005, 2010
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rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	7	File:Maithripala- Russia (portrait).jpg	File:Presidential Standard of Sri Lanka (Maithripala Sirisena).svg Maithripala Sirisena මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන மைத்திரிபால சிறிசேன Template:Small	Template:Small 2015	Template:Small 2019	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2015				Template:Small	Template:Small
Template:Small				Template:Small
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rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	8	File:Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa.jpg	File:Presidential Standard of Sri Lanka (Gotabaya Rajapaksa).gif Gotabaya Rajapaksa ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ Template:Small	Template:Small 2019	Template:Small 2022	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref name="gotabaya-resign">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2019				Template:Small	Template:Small
				Template:Small
Template:Small				Template:Small
Template:Small
rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	9	File:President Dr Muizzu meets Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe (cropped).jpg	Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ரணில் விக்ரமசிங்க Template:Small Template:Small	Template:Small 2022	Template:Small 2022	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Small 2022				Template:Small 2024
2022Template:Efn
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rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	10	File:Anura Kumara Dissanayake in 2025.jpg	Anura Kumara Dissanayake අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක அநுர குமார திசாநாயக்க Template:Small Template:Small	Template:Small 2024	Incumbent	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2024				Template:Small	Template:Small
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Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:950 height:auto barincrement:15 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:100 right:150 left:20 AlignBars = late

Colors =

    id:ind    value:gray(0.8)                  legend: Independent     
    id:unp    value:rgb(0.0275,0.6863,0.0784)  legend: United_National_Party
    id:slfp    value:rgb(0.0510,0.2314,0.5647) legend: Sri_Lanka_Freedom_Party
    id:slpp   value:rgb(0.5294,0.0902,0.1020)  legend: Sri_Lanka_Podujana_Peramuna
    id:npp    value:rgb(0.7686,0.0352,0.2902)  legend: National_People's_Power

    id:liteline    value:gray(0.8)
    id:line        value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.3)
    id:bg          value:white

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1970 till:31/12/{{#expr:{{#time:Y}}+5}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1970 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1970

Legend = columns:1 left:110 top:57 columnwidth:220

Define $today = {{#time:d/m/Y|-3 hours}}

TextData =

 pos:(20,57) textcolor:black fontsize:s
 text:"Political Affiliation:"

BarData =

   bar:Gopallawa
   bar:Jayewardene
   bar:Premadasa
   bar:Wijetunga
   bar:Kumaratunga
   bar:MRajapaksa
   bar:Sirisena
   bar:GRajapaksa
   bar:Wickremesinghe
   bar:Dissanayake

PlotData=

 width:5 align:left fontsize:s shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Gopallawa
 from: 22/05/1972 till: 04/02/1978 color:ind   text:"William Gopallawa" 
bar:Jayewardene
 from: 04/02/1978 till: 02/01/1989 color:unp   text:"Junius Richard Jayewardene"
bar:Premadasa
 from: 02/01/1989 till :01/05/1993 color:unp   text:"Ranasinghe Premadasa"
bar:Wijetunga
 from: 02/05/1993 till: 12/11/1994 color:unp   text:"Dingiri Banda Wijetunga"
bar:Kumaratunga
 from: 12/11/1994 till: 19/11/2005 color:slfp  text:"Chandrika Kumaratunga"
bar:MRajapaksa
 from: 19/11/2005 till: 09/01/2015 color:slfp  text:"Mahinda Rajapaksa"
bar:Sirisena
 from: 09/01/2015 till: 18/11/2019 color:slfp  text:"Maithripala Sirisena"
bar:GRajapaksa
 from: 18/11/2019 till: 14/07/2022 color:slpp  text:"Gotabaya Rajapaksa" 
bar:Wickremesinghe
 from: 14/07/2022 till: 23/09/2024 color:unp   text:"Ranil Wickremesinghe"
bar:Dissanayake
 from: 23/09/2024 till: $today color:npp       text:"Anura Kumara Dissanayake"

</timeline>

See also

• Presidential Secretariat
• List of prime ministers of Sri Lanka

External links

General

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