Left takes lead in Sri Lankan election count

September 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Sri Lanka’s left-wing presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake is leading the electoral count with around 55 percent of the vote, according to initial results released Sunday by the country’s Election Commission (EC).

Specifically, Bloomberg reports that the EC gave Kumara – leader of the National People’s Power party – 55.9 percent of the votes, easily beating opposition leader Sajith Premadasa – of the United People’s Power, PPU – who has 20.6 percent of the votes, and Ranil Wickremesinghe, who would have won 19 percent of the votes.

In Sri Lanka, a candidate must win at least 50 percent of the votes cast for a victory. While the final results are not yet known, there is still the possibility of a historic second round, as some observers and pre-election polls predicted a very close election.

However, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has already extended his “most sincere congratulations” to Dissanayake for the results obtained.

“While I campaigned hard for President Ranil Wickremasinghe, the people of Sri Lanka have made their choice and I fully respect his mandate to Anura Kumara Dissanayake,” he said in a post on X in which he called on the leftist politician to “lead the country with a commitment to transparency, integrity and the long-term good of the country.”

Dissanayake, 55, is the leader of the National People’s Power, a coalition of left-wing political parties and groups backed by the protesters who ousted Rajapaksa. He has gained support among voters angry at the country’s political elite – represented by candidates such as incumbent Wickremesinghe – who they blame for dragging the national economy into crisis.

The electoral process began at 7:00 a.m. (3:30 a.m. in mainland Spain), with the opening of 13,421 polling stations for the more than 17 million Sri Lankan citizens, and concluded with the closing of the polls at 4:00 p.m. (12:30 p.m. in mainland Spain).

Sri Lankan voters have elected their ninth president in this election after Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation led Parliament to appoint the then prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, to the post, despite demands from protesters for him to step down due to the serious economic crisis.

Rajapaksa was forced to flee the country in July 2022 and resign amid massive protests against the economic crisis. Now a record 38 candidates are vying for the presidency.