“First Postal Vote Results Expected Tonight in Sri Lanka’s Presidential Election”

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Election Commission announced that the first postal vote results from the Presidential election are expected to be released before midnight. “The 2024 Presidential Election has marked the most peaceful election day in history,” stated Election Commissioner General Saman Sri Ratnayake after voting concluded on Saturday.

The ballot boxes are currently being transported to counting centers, with counting set to commence at 7 PM. The initial results, reflecting the postal votes, will be available before midnight, according to Lankan media reports.

This highly anticipated election, the first since the island nation’s worst-ever economic crisis, featured a total of 39 candidates. Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party, and Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party are seen as the front-runners. The outcome of this election will be closely monitored in the region. Out of Sri Lanka’s total population of approximately 22 million, 17,140,350 citizens were eligible to vote, including 1.2 million first-time voters.

Polling began at 7 AM at 3,421 polling centers across the country and concluded at 4 PM. Vote counting will soon start at 1,274 counting centers and 439 postal vote counting centers. Ratnayake indicated that the first election results are anticipated around 11 PM on Saturday, with complete results expected to be announced on Sunday. Election observers from various countries, including those from the European Union, have been invited by the Sri Lankan Election Commission to monitor the entire process.

In the 2019 election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, won decisively. However, the severe economic crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated by several shortsighted decisions, resulted in acute shortages of essentials such as food, fuel, medicine, and cooking gas. This led to widespread protests and unrest, ultimately forcing Gotabaya to flee the country in July 2022, with several members of the Rajapaksa family also going into hiding.

Upon his departure, Gotabaya invited Wickremesinghe to take over the presidency, supported by a nearly 60 percent majority in parliament from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). As Wickremesinghe gradually took control of the economic crisis, he sought the SLPP’s backing for the upcoming Presidential Election. However, the Rajapaksas accused him of dividing their party and declined to support him. Subsequently, Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, also entered the presidential race.