Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa of the governing United National Party was elected, receiving 50.4% of all votes cast and defeating both the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate, former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, and the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya candidate, Ossie Abeygunasekera.

In the north and east, soldiers of the Indian Peace Keeping Force battled Tamil Tiger rebels.

In the south, government death squads engaged in deadly violence with equally brutal militants of the Sinhala-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.

Both major party candidates promised to abrogate the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord negotiated by outgoing president J. R. Jayewardene and would ask Indian troops to leave the country.

Despite the looming threat of the JVP insurgents, UNP candidate Ranasinghe Premadasa won a narrow but firm victory.