Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka for the first time on 20 October 1982.

Incumbent president J. R. Jayewardene of the governing United National Party was re-elected, receiving 53% of all valid votes cast, defeating his main opponent Hector Kobbekaduwa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

[1][2] After winning a landslide victory in the 1977 parliamentary elections, prime minister J. R. Jayawardene introduced the Executive Presidency through the 1978 constitutional reforms.

Consequently, prime minister J. R. Jayawardene was inaugurated as the first executive president of Sri Lanka on 4 February 1978.

The election was described as a fight between capitalism and socialism: Kobbekaduwa, who advocated to carry on the policies of the previous SLFP-led regime of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was expected to undo most of the open market and capitalist reforms brought in by president Jayewardene.