Photo : Collected
Cash-strapped Sri Lanka began voting for its next president Saturday in an effective referendum on an unpopular International Monetary Fund austerity plan enacted after the island nation's unprecedented financial crisis.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe is fighting an uphill battle for a fresh mandate to continue belt-tightening measures that have stabilised the economy and ended months of food, fuel and medicine shortages.
His two years in office restored calm to the streets after civil unrest spurred by the downturn in 2022 saw thousands storm the compound of his predecessor, who promptly fled the country.
"We must continue with reforms to end bankruptcy," Wickremesinghe, 75, said at his final rally in Colombo this week.
"Decide if you want to go back to the period of terror, or progress."
But Wickremesinghe's tax hikes and other measures, imposed per the terms of a $2.9-billion IMF bailout, have left millions struggling to make ends meet.
He is tipped to lose to one of two formidable challengers including Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, the leader of a once-marginal Marxist party tarnished by its violent past.
Sri Lanka's crisis has proven an opportunity for the 55-year-old Dissanayaka, who has seen a surge of support based on his pledge to change the island's "corrupt" political culture.
Fellow opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, the son of a former president assassinated in 1993 during the country's decades-long civil war, is also expected to make a strong showing.
"There is a significant number of voters trying to send a strong message... that they are very disappointed with the way this country has been governed," Murtaza Jafferjee of think tank Advocata told AFP.
Messenger/Disha
