Voting underway in Sri Lanka presidential polls: In first elections since economic collapse, country sees 3-cornered fight

Voters lined up to cast their ballots in Sri Lanka’s crucial presidential election on Saturday, in what will be the island country’s first major polling exercise since its economic collapse in 2022.

This time, the polls are seeing a three-pronged battle between Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, main Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power (NPP).

Around 17 million people are eligible to vote across more than 13,400 polling stations, reported PTI. As per the report, over 200,000 officials have been deployed to conduct the election.

People wait in a queue to vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, September 21, 2024. (REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar)

Polling, which kicked off at 7 am, will conclude at 5 pm, and results are expected by Sunday.

Which candidates are in the fray?

There are 38 presidential candidates in the race. However, right now, three stand out as the top contenders:

Incumbent President Wickremesinghe, is hoping for re-election as an Independent candidate, riding on his success in reviving a ravaged economy, which experts hailed as one of the quickest recoveries in the world.

However, Wickremsinghe does not enjoy a solid base of his own, and he has been accused of protecting the Rajapaksa family by shielding them from prosecution — allegations he has denied.

Leading the opinion polls is Marxist Dissanayake, member of parliament from the Colombo district, who’s primary agenda this election to reduce poverty and fight corruption.

Dissanayake’s party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has never wielded power in the national political arena. However, it has twice led Marxist insurrections, and played a pivotal role in the 2022 protests that propelled it to national relevance.

The third popular face, Sajith Premadasa, is the son of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa and the leader of Sri Lanka’s main opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).

He finished runner-up to Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the previous election in 2019.

He is running on the plank of reducing the cost of living for Sri Lankans and promote tourism and agriculture exports.

Premadasa is considered to be the other frontrunner (alongside Dissanayake) in the election, and some previous polls suggested he was most likely to win. However, in a country yearning for radical change, Premadasa’s political background may be a liability.

How does Sri Lanka’s electoral system function?

Eligible voters in Sri Lanka can vote for up to three candidates, and the candidate securing over 50% of the total vote share is declared the winner.

In case no candidate passes this mark in the first round, there is a legal provision for a run-off election between the two frontrunners. Given how close this year’s race has been, a run-off — which would be the first ever since this system was introduced some four decades ago — is very much on the cards.

What happened in 2022?

In 2022, the island country saw its worst ever economic crisis — inflation touched 70%, citizens faced acute food and fuel shortages, and the currency collapsed by over 80%.

As the debt-laden economy collapsed, a popular uprising led its then-president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to flee the country. Tens of thousands of protesters had stormed his residence and office in a display of anger over the crisis.

Consequently, though Wickremesinghe’s recovery plan tied to rigid reforms linked to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout was hardly popular, it helped Sri Lanka recover from successive quarters of negative growth.

In this election, the nation’s battered economy and its recovery have taken centre stage with all three front runners vowing to stick with the IMF bail-out reforms. Dissanayake and Premadasa want to tinker with the IMF programme to give more economic relief to the public.

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