Mrs Bandaranaike contested the Presidential Election for the first time in 1988. Articulating her stance against the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the presence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka as well as suppression of political supporters and human rights violations by the Government in power, Mrs Bandaranaike polled 2, 289, 860 votes, winning 44.9% of the valid votes. However she lost the election to then Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa who polled 50.4 %