Sri Lanka adopted the executive presidential system of government in 1978 reforming the 1972 constitution which ended the Westminster style of governance that existed since the British quit the island in 1948.

From a mere ceremonial presidential status in the 1972 constitution, the 1978 constitution paved way for a powerful executive president directly elected by the people for a six-year term. The first such election was held in October 1982.

The 1982 election was a battle between the incumbent JR Jayewardena of the United National Party (UNP) and Hector Kobbekaduwa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Jayewardena was the architect of the 1978 constitution and his campaign was based on the continuity of his free market economy and large scale development undertaken since assuming power in the 1977 electoral landslide.

Kobbekaduwa his main rival was a makeshift candidate from the SLFP as its leader Mrs Sirima Bandaranaike had been disenfranchised by the Jayewardena regime through a special presidential commission.

The commission found her guilty of alleged excesses during her regime between 1970-1977 and recommended that she be stripped of her civic rights for seven years.

It was a much split SLFP which faced the election. Kobbekaduwa promised that as one of his first jobs he would restore the civic rights of his leader and would bring back many social welfare systems done away by the Jayewardena government.

The Marxist JVP or the People's Liberation Front faced the elections for the first time in this election. Its leader Rohana Wijeweera who was freed from jail by Jayewardene campaigned calling both major party candidates liars who had perpetrated injustice to a majority.

Jayewardena was elected with a 52 percent of the vote and near 1 million majority. However Kobbekaduwa polled more votes than Jayewardena in the Tamil regions. The 1988 presidential election came amidst one of the most turbulent eras of the Sri Lankan history. The JVP had led another bloody rebellion,the second since 1971. The ethnic separatist war had begun in earnest.

Extra judicial killings by the JVP and paramilitaries backing the government meant scores of people being murdered and bodies burnt on tyre pyres.

In July 1983 the anti-Tamil riots had taken place and the Tamil Tigers were carrying out their guerilla warfare. The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was stationed in the north and east as part of the India-Sri Lanka joint peace accord to settle the ethnic conflict.

After a very brief lull in violence the LTTE by 1988 had resumed war and were even taking on the military might of the Indian Army.

The JVP was gunning down the ruling party individuals who supported the Indo-Lanka accord and called for the quitting of the Indian Army whom they called were occupying the north and east.

Jayewardena decided to retire and his place was taken as the ruling party candidate by Ranasinghe Premadasa, the then incumbent prime minister.

Premadasa chose as his main campaign theme moves to send back the Indian Army. He backed with a popular welfare scheme for the poorest of the poor in rural Sri Lanka.

Back after a presidential pardon, Mrs Bandaranaike the SLFP leader was mounting a formidable challenge to Premadasa. She too was pledging to send the Indians back and was campaigning on a theme of peace.

She pledged to work for a negotiated settlement to the north and east issue and was inviting the JVP rebels in the south to join her in governance.

The JVP withdrew from backing Bandaranaike on the eve of the election warning that people should boycott what they termed a fraudulent election and said that first three people to vote at the Dec. 19 election at every voting station would be killed.

The JVP terror discouraged people in the south from turning out to vote and in a low poll Premadasa was elected President with a slender 200,000 lead.

The 1994 presidential election held in November that year was held after the defeat of the UNP in the parliamentary election held in August that year.

Chandrika Kumaratunga of the SLFP led coalition of People's Alliance (PA) had by then established herself as the rising star in local politics.

She was prime minister when she was named the PA candidate and pledged to end the separatist armed conflict through direct talks with the LTTE.

Her main rival was Gamini Dissanayake of the UNP, a formidable opponent. However he came to be assassinated by the Tigers just two weeks prior to polling date while addressing an election rally.

The UNP with a view to capitalizing on the wave of sympathy fielded Dissanayake's widow Srima. Srima, a novice to politics, was duly thrashed by Kumaratunga who was riding on a popular crest of wave of support.

She broke all electoral records in securing 62 percent of the vote including a larger majority from the minority Tamils.

The 1999 presidential election was held in December 1999. Kumaratunga's regime was becoming unpopular for its inability to control rising cost of living and on top of all for failing to deliver the promise of securing ethnic peace through negotiations with the Tigers.

The Tigers by then had gained considerable military gains through fighting the government troops. The security forces morale were suffering continuous blows in the battle field particularly in the east.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, the UNP leader, was her candidate and he was pledging economic prosperity and peace through dialogue with the Tigers.

Kumaratunga's camp sensing wide Tamil minority support for Wickremesinghe accused him of having a secret pact with the Tigers to hand over autonomy on a platter in order to set the Sinhala voters against Wickremesinghe.

The Tigers disappointed with Kumaratunga's war for peace policy having pledged direct negotiations to end the conflict, made an assassination attempt of the President while she was leaving the final election rally held in Colombo.

The President miraculously survived while losing her right eye vision and the wave of sympathy from the Tamil Tiger suicide attack swept Wickremesinghe, who had until then led in the race, away by a comfortable margin of over 700,000 votes.