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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) – Sri Lankans begin voting Saturday in presidential elections that will determine the country’s path to recovery from the worst economic crisis and fueled political upheaval.
The election, contested by 38 candidates, is largely a three-way race between the current liberal President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Marxist-leaning lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa.
There are 17 million eligible voters, and the final results are expected on Sunday.
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The results will show whether Sri Lankans approve of Wickremesinghe’s leadership of the fragile country’s recovery, including debt restructuring in the International Monetary Fund program after the failure in 2022.
The government announced Thursday that it passed the final hurdle in debt restructuring by reaching an agreement in principle with private bondholders.
Sri Lanka’s local and foreign debt totaled $83 billion at the time of the default, and the government says it has now restructured more than $17 billion.
Despite significant improvements in key economic indicators, Sri Lanka is struggling with high taxes and the cost of living.
Premadasa and Dissanayake said they would renegotiate the IMF deal to make further austerity measures possible. Wickremesinghe has warned that steps to change the fundamentals of the agreement could delay the release of the fourth tranche of nearly $3 billion in aid pledged by the IMF that is crucial to maintaining stability.
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has resulted in huge debt in non-revenue generating projects. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s continued use of scarce foreign reserves to prop up its currency, the rupee, has led to economic collapse.
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The economic collapse has led to shortages of essential goods such as medicine, food, cooking gas and fuel, with people spending days waiting to get them. This led to riots in which protesters took over key buildings including the president’s residence, office and prime minister’s office, forcing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.
Wickremesinghe was elected by parliamentary vote in July 2022 to cover the remainder of Rajapaksa’s five-year term. Now, Wickremesinghe is seeking another term to consolidate his gains.
However, many people accuse him of protecting members of the Rajapaksa family, who are blamed for the economic crisis.
Wickremesinghe, who is the only member of the party in Parliament, was elected mainly by the votes of Rajapaksa loyalists. They also supported him as a member of the Cabinet and voted for his proposed reforms.
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