Sri Lanka will soon get a new president! Anura Disanayake is on the way to victory with a big lead, Wickremesinghe's condition is bad

Colombo: Sri Lanka held its first presidential elections on Saturday after the protests and political turmoil in 2022. At the same time, the counting of votes is going on since Sunday morning and in the initial trends, Sri Lanka's National People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is currently leading.

In this regard, according to the results of postal voting in seven electoral districts, Dissanayake got 56% votes, while his rivals Sajith Premadasa and current President Ranil Wickremesinghe got 19-19% votes.

If we look at the results, Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People's Power (NPP) has taken a strong lead in the Sri Lankan presidential election on Sunday. In the voting held last Saturday, Sri Lankan citizens cast their votes to elect a new president. This is the first election in Sri Lanka after the economic crisis of 2022. About 75% of the voters exercised their franchise in the presidential election.

More than 83% voting was recorded in the presidential election held in November 2019. In the results declared by 7 am on Sunday, 56-year-old Dissanayake got 56% votes while his closest rival and main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa got 19% votes. Outgoing President Ranil Wickremesinghe managed to get only 19% votes.

06:00AM Royal College. We campaigned hard for @sajithpremadasa but it was not to be. It is now clear @anuradisanayake will be the new President of #SriLanka. In the spirit of democracy and goodwill I called and wished my friend the best in the arduous road ahead. #SriLankaFirst pic.twitter.com/cWUnzQOCKD

— Harsha de Silva (@HarshadeSilvaMP) September 22, 2024

Although Wickremesinghe has not yet accepted defeat, outgoing Foreign Minister Ali Sabry congratulated Dissanayake on his victory on the social media platform 'X'. In a post on 'X', Sabry said, “After a long and difficult campaign, the election results are now clear. I campaigned a lot for President Ranil Wickremesinghe but the people of Sri Lanka have given their verdict and I fully respect their mandate for Anura Kumara Dissanayake. In a democracy, it is important to respect the will of the people and I respect it unhesitatingly.”

Senior leader of Premadasa camp Harsha de Silva also congratulated Dissanayake. NPP sources said that they will visit the Presidential Secretariat on Sunday to discuss the formalities of transfer of power. Analysts say that Dissanayake's victory is unexpected. However, his victory was predicted even before the election. Dissanayake's NPP had got only three percent votes in the last election.

Sri Lanka's crisis proved to be an opportunity for Dissanayake, who received overwhelming support for his resolve to change the island nation's “corrupt” political culture. This time the minority Tamil issue was not on the agenda. Instead, the country's faltering economy and the need to get it back on track were at the centre.