Sri Lanka to vote today for the first time since the 2022 crisis, economy at the center

As Sri Lanka seeks to recover from a devastating economic crisis in 2022, the people of the island nation, who have borne the brunt of harsh austerity measures, will head to polling stations in the first elections after the crisis, with the economy topping the agenda.

The crisis led to widespread food and fuel shortages, which forced Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to leave the country in 2022. Rajapaksa’s economic policy and the subsequent onset of the Covid pandemic are believed to have led to the worst economic crisis in the island nation.

Outgoing President Ranil Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, took over as interim president in July 2022 after Rajapaksa’s ouster and is now seeking re-election.

he/she is facing challenges from Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Party (JVP) and Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya Party (SJB).

Voting will take place across 13,134 polling stations in Sri Lanka, starting at 7 am (local time) and closing at 4 pm (local time). According to Al Jazeera, the counting of votes is expected to begin at 9:30 pm (local time).

A total of 38 candidates are in the fray to win the top executive post in Sri Lanka. The number of candidates was initially 39, but one candidate, independent candidate Idris Mohamed Ilyas, died of a heart attack in August.

Notably, though Ranil Wickremesinghe is affiliated with the centre-right United National Party (UNP), he/she is contesting for the top post as an independent candidate after the party announced another candidate for the post.

Wickremesinghe is campaigning under his/her slogan “Pulawan Sri Lanka” or “Sri Lanka can do it”, insisting that he/she has led the country out of economic crisis.

Although several economic indices of the Sri Lankan economy have improved, inflation has decreased dramatically, and gross domestic product (GDP) has seen healthy growth, Wickremesinghe is facing criticism from opponents as he/she belongs to the same political elite that is being blamed for the economic crisis of 2022, as reported by Al Jazeera.

The current President is ruling with the support of the Rajapaksa family’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party.

Critics have also accused Wickremesinghe of policies that have involved cutting social welfare schemes in order to balance the country’s accounts, and that he/she has forced vulnerable segments of Sri Lankan society to bear the brunt of sacrifices needed for the country’s economic recovery.

Apart from incumbent President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the popularity of the Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has increased following the 2022 crisis.

The 55-year-old played an active role in the protest movement and has been critical of Sri Lanka’s $2.9 billion bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), claiming it has increased the cost of living for Sri Lankans.

Although the JVP party is still considered marginal in Sri Lanka’s parliament, Dissanayake’s popularity is skyrocketing. At the heart of his/her political campaign is a promise to eradicate corruption, which appears to be resonating among large sections of Sri Lankan society, reports Al Jazeera.

Sajith Premadasa is another prominent candidate in this election. he/she broke away from Wickremesinghe’s UNP and founded the populist Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). Premadasa, son of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, is also the current Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka’s Parliament.

Premadasa, a long-time rival of Wickremesinghe during his/her time in the UNP, also contested the 2019 presidential election, which he/she lost to Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

However, in recent years Premadasa has tried to woo the country’s Tamil vote – the Tamil community accounts for 11 per cent of the population in the Buddhist-majority country.

The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), a major party representing Tamils ​​from the north and east of the country, has thrown its support behind opposition leader Premadasa. A large number of Tamils ​​voted for him/her in the 2019 election, Al Jazeera reports.

However, Rajapaksa had to step down from power due to the economic crisis in 2022. Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is contesting the election. The 38-year-old SLPP leader is the youngest candidate in the fray.

However, support for the Rajapaksa family is at its lowest level due to the economic devastation of 2022.

he/she also served as Minister of Youth and Sports under his/her uncle’s presidency between 2020 and 2022.

However, it is worth noting that Sri Lanka, which gave the world its first female prime minister – Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike – in 1960, will not have any female candidate in this election.

Meanwhile, surveys show Dissanayake as the leading candidate in the election.

The Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey by the Institute for Health Policy (IHP) showed the leftist leader had 48 per cent support, while Premadasa had 25 per cent. Incumbent Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is in third place with 20 per cent support. Namal Rajapaksa is far behind with 5 per cent support.

Al Jazeera also cited Numbers.is, a website that compiles statistics about Sri Lanka, showing Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leading with 40 percent, followed by Premadasa with 29 percent and incumbent Wickremesinghe with 25 percent. This is based on online data collected between September 9 and September 16. The economy is the biggest issue for Sri Lankans in the presidential election.

Sri Lanka faced a massive economic crisis in 2022, as inflation soared to 70 percent and the currency depreciated by 45 percent. For months, people had to stand in long queues to get fuel, severely affecting people’s daily lives.

All of this turned into a massive anti-government uprising, with people storming the President’s residence. The Rajapaksa family, which had been ruling the island nation for a long time, was forced to flee. However,