Sri Lanka president faces tough challengers in elections

Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe – Copyright AFP Ishara S. KODIKARA

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe faces 38 challengers in polls next month, the election commission said Thursday after nominations closed, with ally-turned-rival Sajith Premadasa leading the pack.

It will be the first vote since Wickremesinghe took over two years ago after protesters furious at an unprecedented financial crisis toppled strongman president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and the economy remains at the forefront.

Wickremesinghe, 75, faces a daunting challenge from 57-year-old career politician Premadasa, the parliamentary leader of the opposition, as well as from leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, 55, whose National People’s Power (NPP) coalition is popular among the young.

But what started as a three-way battle became a more complicated contest last week, when the influential Rajapaksa family withdrew crucial support for Wickremesinghe in place of one of their own — Namal Rajapaksa.

The 38-year-old is a member of parliament and son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former president and prime minister, and brother of Gotabaya.

The South Asian majority Buddhist island nation of around 22 million people will vote on September 21.

A record 39 candidates have entered the fray to contest, none of them women, Election Commission chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said.

“Please ensure you are within the law,” Rathnayake said in a televised address, warning candidates to follow election rules.

“Don’t influence public officers to any illegal activity to help your campaigns.”

Election law violations are common in Sri Lanka, but prosecutions rare.

Wickremesinghe has shed his right-wing United National Party (UNP) and presented himself as an independent candidate hoping for broader support.

There were 35 candidates for the November 2019 presidential election won by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced out in 2022 after months of protests over his mishandling of the economy.

Wickremesinghe was elected by parliament in July 2022 for the balance of Rajapaksa’s term

More than 17 million are eligible to cast a ballot, results are expected within a day of voting, and the new president must be sworn in within two weeks.