Sri Lanka begins voting for its next president

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka began voting for its adjacent president Saturday successful an effectual referendum connected an unpopular International Monetary Fund austerity program enacted aft the land nation's unprecedented fiscal crisis.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is warring an uphill conflict for a caller mandate to proceed belt-tightening measures that person stabilized the system and ended months of food, substance and medicine shortages.

His 2 years successful bureau restored calm to the streets aft civilian unrest spurred by the downturn successful 2022 saw thousands tempest the compound of his predecessor, who promptly fled the country.

"We indispensable proceed with reforms to extremity bankruptcy," Wickremesinghe, 75, said astatine his last rally successful Colombo this week.

"Decide if you privation to spell backmost to the play of terror, oregon progress."

But Wickremesinghe's taxation hikes and different measures, imposed per the presumption of a $2.9 cardinal IMF bailout, person near millions struggling to marque ends meet.

He is tipped to suffer to 1 of 2 formidable challengers, including Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, the person of a once-marginal Marxist enactment tarnished by its convulsive past.

Sri Lanka's situation has proven an accidental for the 55-year-old Dissanayaka, who has seen a surge of enactment based connected his pledge to alteration the island's "corrupt" governmental culture.

Fellow absorption person Sajith Premadasa, the lad of a erstwhile president assassinated successful 1993 during the country's decades-long civilian war, is besides expected to marque a beardown showing.

"There is simply a important fig of voters trying to nonstop a beardown message... that they are precise disappointed with the mode this state has been governed," Murtaza Jafferjee of deliberation vessel Advocata told AFP.

'Not retired of the woods'

More than 17 cardinal radical are eligible to ballot successful the election, with much than 63,000 constabulary deployed to support polling booths and counting centers.

"We besides person anti-riot squads connected standby successful lawsuit of immoderate trouble, but truthful acold everything is peaceful," constabulary spokesperson Nihal Talduwa said.

"In immoderate areas, we person had to deploy constabulary to guarantee polling booths are harmless from chaotic animals, particularly chaotic elephants."

Polls adjacent astatine 4:00 p.m. section clip (1030 GMT) with counting to statesman connected Saturday evening.

A effect is expected Sunday, but an authoritative result could beryllium delayed if the contention is close.

Schools were closed Friday to beryllium converted to polling stations, which volition beryllium staffed by much than 200,000 nationalist servants deployed to behaviour the vote.

Economic issues dominated the eight-week campaign, with nationalist choler wide implicit the hardships endured since the highest of the situation 2 years ago.

Official information showed that Sri Lanka's poorness complaint doubled to 25% betwixt 2021 and 2022, adding much than 2.5 cardinal radical to those already surviving connected little than $3.65 a day.

Experts pass that Sri Lanka's system is inactive vulnerable, with payments connected the island's $46 cardinal overseas indebtedness yet to resume since a 2022 authorities default.

The IMF said reforms enacted by Wickremesinghe's authorities were opening to wage off, with maturation dilatory returning.

"A batch of advancement has been made," the IMF's Julie Kozack told reporters successful Washington past week.

"But the state is not retired of the woods yet."