Voting is going on today i.e. 21 September in the presidential election of Sri Lanka. This is the first major election in the country after the worst economic crisis in 2022. About 17 million people are set to cast their votes at more than 13,400 polling stations. Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm and the results are expected by Sunday. 38 candidates are in the fray in Sri Lanka’s presidential election. More than 200,000 officers have been deployed to conduct the election who will be protected by 63,000 police personnel.
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Current President Ranil Wickremesinghe is contesting the election as an independent candidate based on the success of his efforts to pull the country out of the economic crisis. Many experts have praised him for this. In the triangular election battle, Wickremesinghe is facing tough competition from Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power (NPP) and Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). Analysts believe that a triangular contest is taking place for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka’s presidential elections since 1982.
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As 2022 approached, Sri Lanka was plunged into an economic crisis that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country in an uprising. Although Wickremesinghe’s recovery plan, involving tough reforms backed by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, was hardly popular, it has helped Sri Lanka recover from consecutive quarters of negative growth. Sri Lanka’s crisis has proved an opportunity for Dissanayaka, 55, who has seen a surge in support due to his pledge to change the island’s corrupt political culture.
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The minority Tamil issue is not on the agenda of any of the three main contenders in this election. Instead, the country’s deteriorating economy and its reform have taken center stage, and all three front-runners have vowed to stick with the IMF bail-out reforms. Dissanayake and Premadasa want to tinker with the IMF program to provide more economic relief to the masses.
