Sri Lanka has completed its presidential election, and vote counting is currently underway. Anura Kumar Dishanake is poised to become the new President of Sri Lanka, as initial trends indicate he leads with 53% of the votes.
Following the election, counting began during a night curfew. With his impressive performance, Anura Kumar Dishanake will likely become the ninth president of Sri Lanka today.
Voting took place from 7 AM to 4 PM on Saturday across 13,400 polling stations in 22 electoral districts. Approximately 17 million voters participated in this critical election. As the counting continues into the night, the 56-year-old leader remains ahead of his rivals, Sajith Premadasa and Ranil Wickremesinghe.
According to the results from seven out of the 22 districts and postal ballots, Dishanake received 57% of the votes, while his competitors managed only 19% each. Experts suggest that Dishanake is likely to secure more than 50% of the total votes against his rivals, which bodes well for his victory.
Anura Kumar Dishanake currently serves as the Member of Parliament for the Colombo District. Additionally, he leads the National People’s Power and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Party. He ran in the presidential election as the candidate of the NPP coalition, which includes the Marxist JVP.
Importantly, this election marks the first presidential vote in Sri Lanka since the financial crisis of 2022. The country faced severe shortages of food, fuel, and other essential commodities, ultimately leading to a declaration of bankruptcy in April 2022. As a result of months of protests that turned violent, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned, after which Wickremesinghe assumed the presidency.