People wait in a queue to cast their votes at a polling center during the Presidential election on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka on Saturday (September 21, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

Sri Lankans gave their mandate to the country’s next leader in a peacefully held Presidential election on Saturday (September 21, 2024). The outcome of the critical election, expected on Sunday (September 22, 2024), is watched closely as the island nation navigates a challenging phase of economic recovery following a crushing crisis two years ago.

While an announcement of the official voter turnout is awaited, the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, a local election observer group, said it was likely to be in the range of 75% to 80%. The last Presidential election in 2019 saw a record voter turnout of 83.72%.

The election assumes significance, for it is the first time citizens had a say in determining the country’s leadership after a historic people’s uprising in 2022 forced former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and quit office, at the height of the crippling meltdown.

Departing from past Presidential polls that had two main candidates and one clear winner, this election was marked by a three-way contest. Senior politician and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who replaced Mr. Gotabaya through a parliamentary vote in 2022, sought a mandate to continue his project of reviving the country’s battered economy. His main rivals from the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, ran on a plank of “change”, offering relief from the burden of the government’s ongoing, IMF-led reform programme.

‘Honest President’

Sarojini Kadirgamar (97) turned up early on Saturday (September 21, 2024) at the College House, a more-than-a-century-old building serving as the administrative block of the University of Colombo, in an upmarket neighbourhood in the capital city. “Today will be the last time I am called upon to do my civic duty. I am voting for an honest President who will end corruption, because all the mantras that put our economy right will count for nothing if we are not honest and corruption-free. We must respect the rule of law; there must be justice for all the citizens of this country,” she said.

In a reference to the lingering inequality felt by the country’s Tamil minority, Ms. Kadirgamar, who has seen every national election since Independence, said, “In other countries, an immigrant is allowed to be President. In this country, [you can’t] unless you are Sinhala Buddhist… even if you are a Tamil who has served this country well, it is not accepted. So, I want someone who will respect the rule of law and the Supreme Court and rule us justly and correctly, the Buddhist way.”

Eliminating corruption has been a running theme for voters ahead of this election. It takes off from a popular chant during the mass agitations of 2022, when citizens blamed the “corrupt” political establishment for their misery and demanded a “system change” so the country could course-correct.

Citizens contending with the enduring impact of the crisis are emphatic about the need for change at the country’ helm. The country’s economic woes have not ended, said Azar, a voter. “See the long lines of people waiting at the passport office [hoping to leave the country for jobs elsewhere] … it is clear that the problems are still there and there is no relief. We need a good leader to come and address our problems,” he said, outside a polling station in Maradana, a Colombo suburb.

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka said counting of postal votes began on Saturday (September 21, 2024) evening, and the final result would likely be out on Sunday (September 22, 2024). A candidate needs to secure 50% plus one vote to be declared the winner. If no candidate garners a majority, which is more likely in a three-cornered race, authorities will undertake a second round of counting, to determine the preferential votes secured by the top two candidates, and add it to their respective count.

In Sri Lanka’s preferential voting system, voters get to mark three candidates on the ballot indicating their order of preference. No election outcome in the past has warranted a second round of counting.

People stand in a queue to vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Polls opened on Saturday (September 21, 2024) in Sri Lanka’s crucial presidential election — the island nation’s first major electoral exercise since its worst economic meltdown in 2022.

Some 17 million people are eligible to vote at over 13,400 polling stations.

Over 200,000 officials have been deployed to conduct the election which will be guarded by 63,000 police personnel. Voting started at 7 a.m. and will continue till 5 p.m. Results are expected by Sunday. Voters will choose among 38 presidential candidates.

Also read: Follow Sri Lanka Presidential poll LIVE updates

With Sri Lankans heading to polls, here are 5 reasons why this election is different:

Three-cornered race:

All past presidential polls in the island nation had two main candidates and one certain winner. This is the first time three candidates are at the fore. Incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa, and popular opposition legislator Anura Kumara Dissanayake are in what appears a close race for the country’s top office.

Substantially altered political landscape:

The country’s two traditional parties — the centre-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the centre-right United National Party (UNP) — have been decimated over the last few years. Their breakaway formations have detached themselves from the parent parties. The National People’s Power (NPP) Alliance, led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP or People’s Liberation Front), has emerged as a prominent third front, vowing to shake up the old political establishment.

Although Mr. Wickremesinghe is from and still leads the UNP, he is running as an independent candidate this election.

Mr. Premadasa, who was earlier Deputy Leader of the UNP, now leads the main Opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB or United People’s Front), that broke away from the UNP some years ago.

Mr. Dissanayake has been fielded by the NPP alliance, which is a broad social coalition with the JVP as its core constituent. The JVP is a political party with Marxist-Leninist origins that has led two armed insurrections of Sinhalese youth against the state in the 1970s and 1980s.

A possible second round of counting

Sri Lanka follows a preferential voting system that allows voters to mark three preferences on the ballot. A candidate must secure 50% plus one vote to be declared winner. If no candidate garners the majority vote share, a second count of votes will be used to pick the winner. The preferential votes received by the top two candidates will be factored in, and the contestant who gets the highest number of votes will be named the winner. All past presidential elections in Sri Lanka have yielded a clear winner, ruling out the need for a second vote count. However, in a closely fought three-cornered race, securing over 50 % of the mandate may prove hard for any candidate, necessitating a second round of counting of votes, for the first time in Sri Lanka’s election history.

Economy displaces ethnic issue as central poll plank

The island nation’s last few elections were dominated by promises of “eradicating terrorism” (the country’s three decade-long civil war ended in 2009), and pledges of delivering “good governance”, or “national security”. However, economic concerns have taken centre stage this election, the first to be held after the country experienced a crushing economic crisis in 2022. Candidates have sought to address widespread anger over corruption, and the loud call from citizens to eliminate it.

People’s issues, not personalities, matter

After a mass uprising ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office in 2022, the Rajapaksa clan that dominated Sri Lankan politics for some two decades has been forced into political retreat. Although Namal