Colombo: The counting of votes so far in the presidential election in Sri Lanka has brightened the chances of the 55-year-old Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka becoming the president.
According to the World News Agency, in the presidential election of Sri Lanka, Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayah got 52 percent, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa got 23 percent and current president Ranil Wickramasinghe got 16 percent.
Anura Kumara of National People’s Power has been declared the winner in unofficial and inconclusive results. A million voters participated in the polls in the election and 52 percent expressed confidence in him. President Ranil Wickremesinghe is yet to announce the results, but Foreign Minister Ali Sabri said the initial count indicated that Anura Kumara Dissanayake had won. Anura Kumara Dissanayaka’s Marxist party led two failed coups in the 1970s and 1980s that killed more than 80,000 people.
Ranil Wickramasinghe took over the government 2 years ago when the country defaulted. The people stormed the presidential palace and parliament and the rulers fled the country. Ranil Wickremesinghe raised taxes and ended shortages of food, fuel and medicine to secure a $2.9 billion IMF bailout program. He also conceded to re-election demands to continue austerity measures. Sri Lanka’s poverty rate is expected to double to 25 percent between 2021 and 2022, adding more than 2.5 million people to those already living on less than $3.65 a day, official figures show. have been
Thousands of police were deployed for Saturday’s voting, the government also banned the sale of alcohol and a night-time curfew was extended until Sunday evening after polling closed. Also, no victory rally or celebration will be allowed until one week after the announcement of the final results.
