2010 Sri Lankan presidential election
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 74.50% ( 0.77pp) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Results by polling division Mahinda Rajapaksa Sarath Fonseka | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 26 January 2010. The elections were announced on 23 November 2009 when incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to seek a fresh mandate prior to the expiration of his term in 2011. Nominations were accepted on 17 December 2009.
Rajapaksa, who was elected president for a 6-year term in November 2005, was the candidate of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance. General Sarath Fonseka, a former commander of the Sri Lankan Army, was his main opponent in the election. Fonseka had been endorsed by a number of main opposition parties, including the United National Party and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.
President Rajapaksa proceeded to win re-election with 58% of the vote. Fonseka received 40%, carrying the formerly LTTE-occupied Northern and Eastern Provinces. The remaining twenty candidates all garnered less than 0.5% of the popular vote.