As Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga celebrates her 80th birthday, we look back at the life, legacy, and political evolution of Sri Lanka’s first female President, a key figure in the island’s modern history.
In the first six decades following Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948, a Bandaranaike held a seat in Parliament or Senate nearly without pause, the only exception being a ten-month gap from September 1959 to July 1960. This family’s political legacy includes 21 years of prime ministerial leadership, 11 years in the presidency, and 14 years at the helm of the opposition.
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who turned 80 on 29 June 2025, etched her name in history by becoming Sri Lanka’s first female executive president in November 1994. Known affectionately as Chandrika or CBK, she won the presidency with 62% of the vote and secured re-election in 1999 with 51%. Her presidency spanned from November 1994 to November 2005.
Before assuming the presidency, Chandrika served briefly as Prime Minister in 1994, a historic moment as she became the first child of two prime ministers to achieve such a post. Her father, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, was Prime Minister from 1956 to 1959, while her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, held the office from 1960 to 1965 and again from 1970 to 1977.
Chandrika’s political persona sparked both admiration and criticism. Charismatic yet divisive, she inspired strong emotional responses. Many praised her integrity and intellect, while others faulted her for errors in governance. But this duality is a familiar feature in democratic leadership as many have learned, campaigning is poetry, governance is prose.
Chandrika entered office in 1994 on a platform of peace, vowing to end the brutal civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) through negotiation. Initially hailed as a peace angel, her presidency was soon engulfed by resumed conflict. She was criticised for transforming from a dove into a hawk. This writer, once her supporter, also voiced such criticism.
Despite previous critiques, my admiration for Chandrika remains. I supported her peace efforts even before she assumed the presidency. In April 1995, when the LTTE broke a ceasefire and reignited war, I openly condemned them and stood by Chandrika. That stance came at a personal cost. LTTE sympathisers launched a smear campaign against me in Canada, forcing the closure of the Tamil-run newspaper I managed.
As the war escalated, my position evolved. I became increasingly critical of the Kumaratunga government as the conflict ravaged Tamil civilian areas in the north and east. War, with its own cruel logic, bred immense suffering.
Yet despite our differences, I always saw Chandrika as someone with her “heart in the right place” regarding the Tamil national question. I often compared her with Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe. Mahinda was intellectually and emotionally resistant to devolution. Ranil understood its importance intellectually but lacked the emotional commitment. Chandrika, in contrast, supported equality and power-sharing both intellectually and emotionally.
Even so, Chandrika fell short of realising this vision. The war alienated her from the Tamil community and many moderates. As she marks her 80th birthday, this article explores the reasons behind her failure to deliver on a dream of inclusive governance.
In South Asia, political dynasties are common. Chandrika emerged from one of the most powerful. Sri Lanka’s political landscape has long been shaped by family-based politics, from the Abdul Majeeds in the East to the Yapa Abeywardenas in the South. But only three dynasties have truly dominated national politics: the Senanayakes, Bandaranaikes, and Rajapaksas.
The Senanayake legacy began with D.S. Senanayake, followed by his son Dudley and nephew Sir John Kotelawala. The Bandaranaike dynasty started with S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, passed to Sirimavo and then Chandrika and her brother Anura. The Rajapaksa legacy includes DA Rajapaksa, his sons Mahinda, Gotabaya, Basil, and grandsons Namal and Nipuna.
Chandrika’s lineage blends the Bandaranaike and Ratwatte families. Her father, Solomon Bandaranaike, and mother, Sirima Ratwatte, were from elite Sinhala families. Their marriage represented a powerful political union.
From 1948 to 2008, there was almost always a Bandaranaike in Sri Lanka’s legislature, save for the ten-month hiatus mentioned earlier. The Bandaranaikes’ rise coincided with a broader trend of family succession in South Asian politics.
Interestingly, this phenomenon began not with the Bandaranaikes but with the Senanayakes, when Dudley succeeded his father Don Stephen as Prime Minister in 1951. Sirimavo followed after her husband SWRD’s assassination in 1959. In India, a similar pattern was seen in the Nehrus and Gandhis. Jawaharlal Nehru’s daughter Indira and her children Rajiv and Sanjay entered politics. A famous photo of Nehru and Sirima with their children, including Chandrika, Anura, and the Gandhis, hinted at the dynastic future awaiting them.
Rajiv, despite his reluctance, entered politics after Sanjay’s death and his mother’s assassination. He too was later assassinated. Today, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi continue the legacy. Likewise, Anura Bandaranaike entered Parliament at 28 and became Leader of the Opposition by 34.
However, Anura’s path diverged. After a rift with Chandrika and Sirimavo, he joined the UNP. Chandrika, having split from the SLFP to form the SLMP with her husband Vijaya, rejoined the SLFP after Vijaya’s assassination in 1988 by the JVP. When the SLFP-led People’s Alliance won power in 1994, Chandrika became Prime Minister in August and President in November.
This made history again: the Bandaranaikes became the world’s first father-mother-daughter political trio. With Chandrika as President and Sirimavo as Prime Minister, they also became the first mother-daughter duo to hold such offices.
What set Chandrika apart, however, was her departure from her parents’ politics. SWRD championed Sinhala-majority policies, introducing Sinhala as the sole official language, which widened ethnic divides. Sirimavo continued similar policies, deploying military force against peaceful Tamil protests and introducing university admission quotas disadvantaging Tamil students.
Yet Chandrika charted a different course. She sought to bridge divides, not widen them. Even while coming from such a background, she rejected divisive politics. Her progressive stance made her unique.
Both Chandrika and her sister Sunethra leaned left politically, unlike Anura who leaned right. Studying in France, Chandrika was exposed to radical leftist thought. This experience influenced her political ideology.
Her transformation deepened after marrying Vijaya Kumaratunga. Their marriage transcended social divisions and united them through a shared progressive worldview. Vijaya, a charismatic actor and political visionary, imagined Sri Lanka as inclusive and egalitarian. Had he lived, his impact could have been profound.
Though acting was his profession, politics was Vijaya’s calling. Influenced by leftist ideologies and Prof. Carlo Fonseka, he joined the SLFP and ran for Parliament in 1977 in Katana, losing to UNP’s Wijepala Mendis. Despite the defeat, he stayed committed to politics.
He met Chandrika in 1977, and their relationship blossomed. They married in February 1978 in a small ceremony with only 19 guests. They lived together in Colombo and had two children, Yashodara and Vimukthi, both now doctors in the UK.
Tragically, Vijaya was assassinated in February 1988, just before their 10th anniversary. His death pushed Chandrika further into politics. Though reluctant, she felt compelled by duty. Having lost her father and husband to political violence, and survived an assassination herself, she entered the arena out of a sense of responsibility.
She saw her role as fulfilling her husband’s political mission. With her party in disarray, she returned from exile and rejoined the SLFP. Observers noted how destiny seemed to draw her back.
In an interview with TIME, Chandrika said, “I don’t think any individual is indispensable. But there are times when circumstances converge, and people are called to lead historic processes.”
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is one such figure a daughter of destiny.
About the Author
