Sri Lanka presidential election 2024: Key candidates, why today’s vote matters for India

The island nation of Sri Lanka will vote for a new President on Saturday, September 21, in it’s first election after the economic collapse in 2022, with 38 candidates vying for the presidential seat.

Sri Lanka will start voting at 7am (local time) and end at 4pm, after which counting will begin. Results are expected on Sunday, reported news agency the Associate Press. Around 17 out of 22 million people are eligible to vote in for the country’s 10th president as economic issues such as inflation, social welfare schemes, food and fuel shortages, take precedence.

Key candidates
At the forefront of the race is sitting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, fighting for re-election. However, he faces competition from two other political heavyweights.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe
The 75-year-old Wickremesinghe succeeded former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled in 2022 as the country’s economy hit rock-bottom and Sri-Lankans launched massive protests against the government. President Wickremesinghe has garnered the people’s goodwill earlier as a six-time prime minister and for his role in negotiating an IMF bailout for the struggling country.