According to the electoral authority, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake will compete in a run-off for the president of Sri Lanka on Sunday. The victor will be determined by preferential vote counting in a second round of voting.
For the first time in Sri Lankan history, a second round of voting will be used to determine the victor of the presidential contest after the top two contenders were unable to secure the necessary 50% of the vote.
The Election Commission informed media that all remaining candidates, including President Ranil Wickremesinghe, have been disqualified. Dissanayake received 39.5% of the votes that were counted, while Premadasa came in second with 34%.
Third place went to Wickremesinghe with 17%, who oversaw the highly indebted country’s precarious economic recovery from a crippling catastrophe in 2022.
The Indian Ocean nation of Sri Lanka is holding its first election since its economy collapsed in 2022 due to a severe lack of foreign cash, which prevented it from paying for the purchase of necessities like cooking gas, gasoline, and medication. ultimately-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was compelled to leave and ultimately step down due to protests.
The outcome of the election amply demonstrates that the revolution that took place in 2022 is still ongoing, according to University of Colombo political scientist Pradeep Peiris.
Voters have expressed their desire for alternative political structures and practices by casting their ballots accordingly. These goals are reflected in AKD, as Dissanayake is called, and the public has united behind him.
In order to get a new mandate for his policies in general elections, Dissanayake, 55, ran as the candidate of change for those suffering from austerity measures associated with a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. He pledged to dismiss parliament within 45 days of assuming office.
With a platform promising to renegotiate the island nation’s $25 billion debt and cut taxes, which might affect IMF budgetary forecasts, he has alarmed investors. However, he adopted a more accommodating stance throughout the campaign, promising to ensure debt repayment and stating that any adjustments would be discussed with the IMF.
Additionally, Premadasa promised to modify the terms of the IMF agreement.
Millions live in abject poverty
The IMF agreement has supported Sri Lanka’s economy, which has shown signs of cautious revival. For the first time in three years, growth is anticipated this year, and inflation has dropped from a crisis peak of 70% to only 0.5%.
However, millions of people still live in poverty and many hold out hope for a better future from the next leader due to the high cost of living.
While the vote counting proceeded, authorities imposed a curfew throughout the island country until midday (1:30 a.m. ET) as a precaution. Despite this, the voting process was orderly.
The commission estimates that almost 75% of the 17 million eligible voters cast votes.
Renowned for his captivating orations, Dissanayake campaigned for the National People’s Power alliance, which included his Marxist-affiliated Janatha Vimukthi Peremuna party. Dissanayake’s party has always supported more closed-market economic policies, reduced taxation, and increased state intervention.
Dissanayake’s campaign was strengthened by his pledges of strict anti-corruption measures and stronger pro-poor policies, despite the fact that JVP only has three members in parliament. At his rallies, he gathered sizable audiences and urged Sri Lankans to put the situation behind them.
Following the 1993 suicide attack that murdered his father, President Ranasinghe Premadasa, Premadasa, then fifty-seven, entered politics. In the most recent presidential election, the younger Premadasa came in second place, after Rajapaksa, with 42% of the vote.
The center-left party of Premadasa has pledged tax adjustments to lower living expenses. As the counting went on, support from rural areas in central and northern Sri Lanka allowed him to get closer to Dissanayake.
The victor must guarantee that Sri Lanka adheres to the IMF program through 2027 in order to put the country’s economy on a course of steady development, reassure investors, pay off debt, draw in new business, and assist 25% of its population in escaping poverty.
