COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Marxist parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake took the lead in Sri Lanka’s presidential election, and officials began counting Sunday for the first time in the second round after ousting incumbent liberal President Ranil Wickremesinghe from the race. History.
Dissanayake, His pro-working-class and anti-elite campaign made him popular among young people, leading with 39% of the votes counted. Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa According to the calculation published by the Election Commission, 34%.
Two years ago, tens of thousands of Sri Lankans rose up against their president, forcing him to flee the country. As the country prepares for its first election since then, many say they are still waiting for change. (AP Video/Rishi Lekhi, Rajesh Kumar Singh and Jay Balipane)
Saturday’s election is very important The country is trying to recover from the worst economic crisis in its history The result was political upheaval. 38 candidates contestedIt was mostly a three-way contest between Dissanayake, Wickramasinghe and Premadasa.
No candidate received more than 50% of the vote.
The Sri Lankan electoral system allows voters to select three candidates of their choice on their ballot paper. If no candidate gets a majority, the first two are retained and the votes of the eliminated candidates are checked against the preferences given to either of the first two candidates and those votes are added to their respective tally. After that the candidate who gets the highest number of votes is declared the winner.
Polling station officials carry a sealed ballot box as they return to a counting center at the end of voting during the presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, September 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
It was a strong showing for Dissanayake, who won just 3% of the vote in the previous presidential election in 2019, and suggests voters are tired of the old political defenses accused of driving Sri Lanka into economic instability.
More than 50 countries will go to the polls in 2024
Wickremesinghe’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabri congratulated Dissanayake Social platform X He also said he hoped to “lead with transparency, integrity and a commitment to the long-term welfare of the country”.
The latest update on the presidential election, Sunday, Sept. A screen is shown at a vote counting center in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
“I wish Mr. Dissanayake and his team every success in their endeavors to take Sri Lanka forward,” Sabri added.
Premadasa did not admit defeat.
The election was a virtual referendum on Wickremesinghe’s leadership of a fragile recovery, including restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt under an International Monetary Fund bailout program after defaulting on debt in 2022.
Dissanayake, 55, heads the leftist coalition National People’s Power, an umbrella of civil society groups, professionals, Buddhist clergy and students.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe cast his vote in the country’s presidential election on Saturday. The election will determine the course of Sri Lanka’s recovery from its worst economic crisis and the resulting political upheaval.
No major incidents were reported during the polls, but authorities announced a nationwide curfew until Sunday afternoon as a precaution, police said.
were 17 million voters are eligible And the final results are expected on Sunday evening.
The government announced the final ban last Thursday Debt restructuring by reaching an agreement In principle with private bondholders.
At the time of the default, Sri Lanka’s domestic and foreign debt totaled $83 billion. The government says it has now restructured more than $17 billion.
Despite significant improvements in key economic figures, Sri Lankans continue to struggle with high taxes and the cost of living.
Both Premadasa and Dissanayake say they will renegotiate the IMF accord to make austerity measures more sustainable. Wickremesinghe has warned that any move to change the fundamentals of the agreement could delay the release of the fourth tranche of nearly $3 billion, which is critical to maintaining stability.
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is the result of excessive borrowing for projects that do not generate income. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the government’s insistence on using scarce foreign reserves to prop up the currency, the rupee, contributed to the economy’s free fall.
Economic collapse brought a Severe shortage of essential items like medicinesPeople spend days queuing to get food, cooking gas and fuel. This led to riots in which protesters took over key buildings, including the president’s house, his office and the prime minister’s office, forcing then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.
Wickremesinghe was elected by a parliamentary vote in July 2022, the remainder of Rajapaksa’s five-year term.
