Chandrika Kumaratunga

Chandrika Kumaratunga (2005)

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( Sinhala චන්ද්‍රිකා බන්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග , Tamil சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்கே குமாரதுங்கா ; born June 29, 1945 in Athenegalle ) was President of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2005 .

Her father, SWRD Bandaranaike, was a member of the government at the time of her birth and later became the country's prime minister. He was murdered in 1959. After his death, his wife, Chandrika's mother Sirimavo Bandaranaike , became the world's first female prime minister and later the country's opposition leader.

Chandrika married the actor and politician Vijaya Kumaratunga in 1978 . He was assassinated in February 1988 .

Chandrika was an Expert Consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from 1976 to 1979 . She was named Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in the early parliamentary elections in August 1994 following the victory of the People's Alliance , a left-wing alliance of various opposition parties . After she won the presidential election in 1994 , she was sworn in as president only three months later on November 12, 1994. She then reappointed her mother as prime minister; for the mother it was her third term in office.

At the beginning of her term in office, she took a conciliatory course with the LTTE separatist movement to end the civil war that is rocking the country. After the failure of these plans, it finally followed a more military line against the separatists.

The election campaign for the early presidential election on December 21, 1999 was overshadowed by violence. On December 18, a terrorist LTTE committed a suicide attack on them. Kumaratunga survived the assassination attempt, but her right eye was so badly injured that that eye became blind. In the election three days later she was able to benefit from a considerable sympathy bonus and was confirmed in office with 51% of the votes cast.

A new candidacy, which she would not have been eligible for after two terms in office, for the presidential election in November 2005 was prevented by a constitutional lawsuit by the “Party of National Heritage” ( Jathika Hela Urumaya ). Her successor in office was Mahinda Rajapaksa .

See also

• List of female heads of state and government

Web links

Commons : Chandrika Kumaratunga  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Profiles: Chandrika Kumaratunga , short biography at the BBC (English)