ranasinghe premadasa (; ; 23 june 1924 – 1 may 1993) was the third president of sri lanka. he was president from 2 january 1989 to 1 may 1993. before that, he served as the prime minister in the government headed by j. r. jayewardene from 6 february 1978 to 1 january 1989. premadasa was assassinated by the liberation tigers of tamil eelam with a suicide bomb.