People wait in line to vote at a polling center during the Presidential election on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday (September 21, 2024). | Photo Credit: AP
Sri Lankans gave their mandate to their next leader in a peaceful Presidential election on Saturday (September 21, 2024). The critical election results, expected on Sunday (September 22, 2024), are being closely watched as the island nation goes through a challenging economic recovery phase after a devastating crisis two years ago.
While an announcement on official voter turnout is awaited, People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, a local election observer group, said it was in the 75% to 80% range. The last Presidential election in 2019 recorded a record voter turnout of 83.72%.
The election is very important, because it is the first time citizens have the right to determine the country’s leadership after a popular uprising in 2022 forced former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to leave the country and resign from office, at the height of the crippling crisis.
Starting from the last Presidential poll that had two main candidates and one clear winner, this election is marked by a three-way contest. Senior politician and current president Ranil Wickremesinghe, who replaced Mr Gotabaya through a parliamentary vote in 2022, has sought a mandate to continue his project to revive the country’s battered economy. The main rivals from the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, ran on the plank of “change”, offering relief from the burden of the government’s ongoing, reform program led by the IMF.
‘An honest president’
Sarojini Kadirgamar (97) arrived on Saturday (September 21, 2024) at College House, a century-old building that is the administrative block of the University of Colombo, in an upscale neighborhood in the capital. city. “Today will be the last time I am called to do a civic duty. I chose an honest President who will stop corruption, because all the mantras that correct our economy will be for nothing if we are not honest and not corrupt. We must respect the rule of law; there must be justice for all citizens of this country,” he said.
In reference to the lingering inequality felt by the Tamil minority in the country, Mrs. Kadirgamar, who has seen every national election since Independence, said, “In other countries, immigrants are allowed to be President. In this country, (you can’t) unless you are a Sinhala Buddhist … although you Tamils ​​who have served this country well are not welcome. So I want someone who will respect the rule of law and the Supreme Court and rule us fairly and justly, in the Buddhist way.
Eliminating corruption has been a theme that voters have been following before this election. Removed from the popular chant during the mass agitation of 2022, when citizens blamed the “corrupt” political establishment for their suffering and demanded “system change” to make the country right.
Citizens grappling with the ongoing impact of the crisis insist on the need for change in the country’s leadership. The country’s economic problems are far from over, said Azar, the voter. “Look at the long lines of people waiting at the passport office (hoping to leave the country to work elsewhere)… it is clear that the problem is still there and there is no relief. We need a good leader to come and solve our problems,” he said. outside a polling station in Maradana, a suburb of Colombo.
The Electoral Commission of Sri Lanka said that the counting of postal votes began on Saturday (September 21, 2024) evening, and the final results will be out on Sunday (September 22, 2024). Candidates must 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, the authorities will conduct a second round of counting, to determine the preferential votes secured by the two top candidates, and added to their respective counts.
In Sri Lanka’s preferential voting system, voters can mark three candidates on a ballot indicating their order of preference. No election results in the past have warranted a second round of counting.
Published – 21 September 2024 21:41 IST