Sri Lanka presidential election: All candidates eliminated except Dissanayake, Premadasa
File photo.
Sri Lanka's Election Commission (EC)on Sunday (Sept 22) confirmed the second preference vote count in yesterday's presidential election. As per the EC, all candidates were eliminated exceptMarxist-leaning leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and opposition leaderSajith Premadasa.
This development came after Dissanayake grabbed acommanding early lead on Sunday to become thenext president of the debt-ridden country seeking to elect a leader to bolster its fragile economic recovery.
Citing election commission data, a report by the news agency Reuters said thatDissanayake won about 53 per centof a million votes counted so far in the election.Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was second at 22 per cent, ahead of President Ranil Wickremesinghe in third place.
Dissanayake contested as a candidate for the National People's Power (NPP) alliance, which includes his Marxist-leaning Janatha Vimukthi Peremuna (JVP) party that has traditionally backed stronger state intervention, lower taxesand more closed market economic policies.
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A candidate of change
Dissanayake, 55, has presented himselfas a candidate of change,promising to dissolve parliament within 45 days of coming to power to seek a fresh mandate for his policies in the general elections.
Though the JVP has just three seats in Parliament, the Maxist-leaning leaderhas been boosted by his promises of tough anti-corruption measures and more pro-poor policies.
In a post on X, Sri Lankan Foreign MinisterAli Sabry said that the results of the election were clear.
"Though I heavily campaigned for President Ranil Wickremasinghe, the people ofSriLankahave made their decision, and I fully respect their mandate for Anura Kumara Dissanayake," Foreign Minister Sabry said.
Also watch | Race to Power:Who do people trust for Sri Lanka's future?
An opinion poll published this month showed Dissanayake was leading in voting preferences at 36 per cent, followed by Premadasa and President Wickremesinghe in third.
The first election since 2022
This wasSriLanka's first election since the economy buckled in 2022 under a severe foreign exchange shortage, leaving the country unable to pay for imports of essentials including fuel, medicine and cooking gas.
Thousands of protesters marched in Colombo in 2022 and occupied the president's office and residence, forcing then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and later resign.
Buttressed by a $2.9 billion bailout programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the economy has posted a tentative recovery but the high cost of living was still a critical issue for many voters.
The winner of the electionwould have to ensureSriLankasticks with the IMF programme until 2027 to get its economy on a stable growth path.
In his manifesto, Dissanayake pledged to slash taxes that would impact fiscal targets, leaving investors and market participants worried about his economic policies.
(With inputs from agencies)