COLOMBO (AP) – Voting ended yesterday in Sri Lanka’s presidential election as the country seeks to recover from the worst economic crisis in its history and the resulting political upheaval.
The election, contested by 38 candidates, is largely a three-way race among incumbent liberal President Ranil Wickremesinghe, lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa.
There are 17 million eligible voters, and final results are expected today.
The results will show whether Sri Lankans approve of Wickremesinghe’s leadership over the country’s fragile recovery, including restructuring its debt under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme after it defaulted in 2022.
The government announced on Thursday that it passed the final hurdle in debt restructuring by reaching an agreement in principle with private bond holders.
Sri Lanka’s local and foreign debt totalled USD83 billion at the time it defaulted, and the government says it has now restructured more than USD17 billion. Despite a significant improvement in key economic figures, Sri Lankans are struggling under high taxes and living costs.
Both Premadasa and Dissanayake said they will renegotiate the IMF deal to make austerity measures more bearable. Wickremesinghe has warned that any move to alter the basics of the agreement could delay the release of a fourth tranche of nearly USD3 billion in assistance pledged by the IMF that’s crucial to maintaining stability.
Most Sri Lankans are voting with the economy in mind, hoping a new government takes the country completely out of the crisis and ends the long-entrenched corruption in the system.
