Last updated on September 23rd, 2024 at 09:27 am
Sri Lanka on Saturday is holding a presidential election regarded as crucial to elect a head of state who could take the country out of its present phase of recovery from a deep economic crisis in 2022. It promises to be an intense battle between incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the main opposition Sajith Premadasa, and Marxist-leaning candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake who has gained significant visibility in recent surveys.
The vote closed at 4 PM local time and counting will start soon after that. The results are most likely to be announced by the Election Commission on Sunday starting from the postal votes. Under the electronic voting system, each voter may cast up to three preferential votes; if no candidate achieves a majority of 50% or more in the first count, there will be a runoff between the two leaders after counting all the votes.
Reports said voting on Saturday was remarkably peaceful
Gathering through the day as it went. The 13,000 polling stations were staffed by 250,000 public officials-who had been deployed as part of this election-mostly to oversee Sri Lanka’s 22 million residents, over 17 million of whom qualified to vote.
At the polling stations many voters said they wanted change
Citing economic hardships. “For us to have a future, the entire country must have a future,” said Niroshan Perera, a Dissanayake supporter, as he mentions the mass sentiment for change in the nation’s leadership.
This is the first election Sri Lanka
Has had to endure since its economy dived catastrophically in 2022. The situation was caused mainly by a foreigners’ money shortage, which made it impossible to bring into the country the most basic products of import. The collapse resulted in massive riots across the island, ultimately leading to the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
With the impetus of a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout
the Sri Lankan economy has slowly begun to heal, but one challenge that will forever remain at the top of most citizens’ minds concerns high living costs, for example. Inflation is also now at 0.5%, after peaking at 70%. The country’s GDP is also forecast to grow this year in both total GDP and per capita GDP. But for millions, all this change portends little promise, as they continue to live in poverty and debt, with few options other than reliance on the new leader to solve their problems.
“The people have to decide the future of this country,” Wickremesinghe declared after casting his vote, stressing stable government and democratic principles as the country looks to abide by the IMF program through 2027.
The Election Outcomes in Sri Lanka are a Significant Turning Point for the country. Voters want to decide the nation’s future amid continued struggles.