Left-leaning candidate leads Sri Lanka presidential race
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a leftist politician, is at the forefront of Sri Lanka’s presidential election. This Saturday’s vote marks the first since mass protests led to the ousting of former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022, following the country’s worst economic crisis.
Dissanayake has promised voters stringent anti-corruption measures and improved governance—appeals that have resonated with those seeking systemic change in the wake of the crisis.
As of Sunday morning, Dissanayake has garnered 42% of the counted votes, while a candidate needs 51% to win outright. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa follows with nearly 32%, and President Ranil Wickremesinghe, seeking a second term, has received 16%. Namal Rajapaksa, the nephew of the ousted president, has close to 3%.
If no candidate secures 51% in the first round, a runoff will occur to consider voters’ second and third choices. Historically, all eight presidential elections in Sri Lanka since 1982 have concluded in the first round, making this election one of the closest in the nation’s history.
Seventeen million Sri Lankans were eligible to vote, and the elections commission reported it as the most peaceful election in the country’s history. However, a curfew was imposed late Saturday for “public safety,” extended until noon local time (06:30 GMT).
While Dissanayake has yet to reach the required votes for victory, he has received congratulatory messages from supporters of his main rivals, Wickremesinghe and Premadasa. Foreign Minister Ali Sabry acknowledged early results favoring Dissanayake on X, stating, “Though I campaigned for President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the people of Sri Lanka have made their decision, and I fully respect their mandate for Anura Kumara Dissanayake.”
MP Harsha de Silva, who supported Premadasa, said he called Dissanayake to offer his congratulations.
“We campaigned hard for @sajithpremadasa but it was not to be. It is now clear @anuradisanayake will be the new President of #SriLanka,” said de Silva, who represents Colombo in parliament.
Another Premadasa supporter, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesman MA Sumanthiran, said Dissanayake delivered an “impressive win” without relying on “racial or religious chauvinism”.
The country’s new president will be faced with the twin tasks of reviving the economy and lifting millions from crushing poverty.
An economic meltdown fueled the “Aragalaya” (struggle) uprising that unseated Rajapaksa from the presidential palace in 2022.
At that time, Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves had dried up, leaving the country unable to import essentials such as fuel. Public debt had ballooned to $83bn while inflation zoomed to 70%.
This made basics like food and medicine unaffordable to to ordinary people.
The country’s economic misery has been blamed on major policy errors, weak exports and years of under-taxation. This was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which choked tourism, a key economic driver.
But many people have also blamed corruption and mismanagement, fuelling anger against Rajapaksa and his family, who collectively ruled Sri Lanka for more than 10 years.
“The most serious challenge is how to restore this economy,” said Dr. Athulasiri Samarakoon, a political scientist at the Open University of Sri Lanka, told the BBC Sinhala Service.
Duringhis term, Wickremesinghe had secured a $2.9bn lifeline from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is crucial to opening additional funding channels, but comes with strict economic and governance policy reforms.
Sri Lanka is restructuring the terms of its debt payments with foreign and domestic lenders, as mandated by the IMF. The main focus has been the country’s $36bn in foreign debt, of which $7bn is owed to China, its largest bilateral creditor.
Dissanayake has promised to develop the manufacturing, agriculture and IT sectors. He has also committed to revising tax rates and widening the tax base.
Premadasa has also pushed for IT as well as the establishment of 25 new industrial zones. He said tourism should be supported so that it becomes the country’s top foreign currency earner.
Wickremesinghe during the campaign said he would double tourist arrivals and establish a national wealth fund as well as new economic zones to increase growth.
