Chandrika Kumaratunga

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Lore & Background

Chandrika Bandaranaike was born into the prominent Bandaranaike political family. Her father, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, was prime minister until his assassination in 1959; her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, became the world's first female prime minister. Chandrika was educated at St Bridget's Convent, Colombo, and studied at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), graduating in 1970, and later pursued a PhD in development economics at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. She returned to Ceylon in 1972 and became active in the SLFP, serving on the Land Reforms Commission and chairing the Janawasa Commission. After her mother's government lost the 1977 general election, she worked as a consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization. In 1978, she married Vijaya Kumaratunga, a political activist, and left the SLFP in 1984 to support his party, the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya.

Reader's Guide

Chandrika Kumaratunga's presidency marked a significant shift in Sri Lankan politics. She modernized the SLFP and the broader left under 'capitalism with a human face,' moving from state-controlled economics to a market-oriented approach while emphasizing equity and social protection. Her administration restored a degree of normalcy after the political violence of the late 1980s and early 1990s, focusing on democratic norms and reducing extra-judicial violence. She pursued peace negotiations with the LTTE to resolve the civil conflict, and after their collapse, launched the 'War for Peace' military campaign. She succeeded in isolating the LTTE internationally, leading many states to designate it a terrorist organization. Her proposed 2000 Constitution aimed to abolish the executive presidency and devolve power to Tamils, but was never implemented. Her tenure faced criticism over her use of presidential powers and allegations of corruption.

Did You Know?

• Chandrika Kumaratunga is the younger daughter of two former prime ministers: S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
• She was elected president in 1994 with nearly 62% of the vote, the largest landslide victory in Sri Lankan history.
• She survived an assassination attempt during her 1999 re-election campaign and went on to win a second term.
• Her proposed 2000 Constitution aimed to abolish the executive presidency and devolve power to the Tamil people, but was never implemented.
• She studied at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), graduating in 1970, and pursued a PhD in development economics at the École Pratique des Hautes Études.

Political Lineage and Formative Years

Chandrika Bandaranaike entered the world in 1945 at Wentworth, Guildford Crescent, Colombo, into a family that would come to dominate Sri Lankan politics for generations. Her father, Solomon Bandaranaike, was an Oxford-trained barrister and left-wing nationalist who had already built a formidable political following through the Sinhala Maha Sabha before founding the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 1951. Her mother, Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, came from a lineage stretching back to the Kandyan Convention of 1815. The family resided at Rosmead Place and the ancestral Horagolla Walauwa. Chandrika's political consciousness was shaped in the crucible of tragedy: her father was assassinated in 1959 when she was just fourteen. Her mother then led the SLFP to victory in 1960, becoming the world's first female prime minister. As the second of three children, Chandrika grew up immersed in the machinery of governance, watching her father push through nationalizations, remove British military bases, and reshape the nation's linguistic identity.

The Road to the Presidency and Defining Electoral Moments

After years spent in exile following the assassination of her husband Vijaya Kumaratunga, Chandrika returned to Sri Lanka in the late 1980s and re-entered public life. In 1993 she was elected Chief Minister of the Western Province, and the following year she assumed leadership of the SLFP. That same year she forged the People's Alliance coalition and carried it to a commanding parliamentary victory. The presidential contest that followed in 1994 produced what remains the largest landslide in Sri Lankan electoral history: she defeated UNP candidate Srima Dissanayake with nearly 62 percent of the vote, becoming the island's first female president. Her tenure as the longest-serving president in the country's history was tested again in 1999, when she survived an assassination attempt during her re-election campaign. She nonetheless went on to defeat Ranil Wickremesinghe and secure a second term, cementing her position as the defining political figure of her era.

Economic Transformation and Constitutional Ambition

One of Kumaratunga's most consequential legacies was the ideological recalibration of the Sri Lankan left. Under her stewardship, the SLFP abandoned the inward-looking, state-controlled economic model that had defined earlier administrations in favor of what she termed 'capitalism with a human face.' This framework preserved a market-oriented economy while insisting on equity and social protection, broadening the party's appeal beyond its traditional base and contributing to improved economic performance. On the constitutional front, her government tabled a sweeping package of reforms known as the 2000 Constitution, which sought to abolish the executive presidency and devolve meaningful power to the Tamil population. The proposal, however, was never brought into force after opposition parties withdrew their support. Her presidency also drew sustained criticism over her use of presidential powers and allegations of corruption within her administration, complicating an otherwise transformative record.

The Civil War and the Quest for Peace

Kumaratunga's presidency unfolded against the backdrop of Sri Lanka's most violent internal conflict. She pursued peace negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in a genuine effort to end decades of civil war. When those talks collapsed, she launched a military campaign she branded the 'War for Peace' during the Eelam III phase, one of the conflict's most brutal periods of fighting. Her strategy was deliberately two-pronged: while the military pressed forward, her government worked to isolate the LTTE on the international stage. The effort bore fruit as numerous major states formally designated the group a terrorist organization, severing critical funding channels and dismantling much of its global propaganda infrastructure. Beyond the war, her administration also worked to restore democratic norms and curb extra-judicial violence that had plagued the country during the turbulent Premadasa era, attempting to bring a measure of political stability to a nation exhausted by repression and insecurity.