Sri Lankan presidential election, 2010

6th Sri Lankan presidential election

← 2005 26 January 2010 (2010-01-26) 2015 →
Turnout	74.50%
Nominee Mahinda Rajapaksa Sarath Fonseka Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party New Democratic Front Alliance United People's Freedom Alliance The Common Candidate Home state Southern Province Southern Province States carried 16 6 Popular vote 6,015,934 4,173,185 Percentage 57.88% 40.15%
polling divisions won by   – Mahinda Rajapaksa   – Sarath Fonseka
President before election Mahinda Rajapaksa United People's Freedom Alliance Elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa United People's Freedom Alliance

  – Mahinda Rajapaksa

Mahinda Rajapaksa
United People's Freedom Alliance

Mahinda Rajapaksa
United People's Freedom Alliance

The Sri Lankan presidential election of 2010 was the sixth presidential election of Sri Lanka. The election was 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, and the election was held on 26 January 2010.

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, over 57% of all votes cast. Fonseka received over 40%, carrying the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. The remaining twenty candidates all garnered less than 0.5% of the popular vote.

In 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected to his first term as president, defeating former prime minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, the United National Party (UNP) candidate. Before the election, Mahinda Rajapaksa was Prime Minister under President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Rajapaksa won a narrow victory, by 190,000 votes, or 50.29% of the popular vote. The separatist Tamil Tigers had called for a boycott of the election in the Northern and Eastern provinces, resulting in a minimal turnout, which the opposition claimed resulted in their defeat.