New President to be elected in Sri Lanka today

Colombo, The election of a new President in Sri Lanka will be held on Wednesday. On Tuesday, just before the election, the opposition candidate Sajith Premadasa withdrew his nomination. In this way, now the presidential contest has remained between three leaders. Premadasa withdrew his nomination and announced his support to another opposition leader, Dullas Alhapparuma. He is up against interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is backed by the Rajapaksa family.

However, ahead of Wednesday’s presidential election, opposition party Samagi Jan Balvegaya, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa has announced that he will withdraw from his presidential candidacy. Along with this, he has decided to support Dullas Alhapparuma. Premadasa wrote on social media – For the good of my country whom I love and the people I love, I withdraw my candidacy for the presidency. Samagi Jan Balvegaya and our alliance will work hard to make Dullas Alhapparuma win the election.

Three people were left in the fray after nominations ended on Tuesday ahead of the election. Ranil Wickremesinghe will face Dullas Alhapparuma and Anura Kumara Disanayake in the presidential election. Alhapparuma is a staunch Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist and a member of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party. At the same time, Disanayake is a prominent member of the leftist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna i.e. JVP.

After the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country after a people’s movement in severe economic crisis, elections will be held on Wednesday to appoint his successor. The new president will serve for the remainder of former President Rajapaksa’s term until November 2024.