Sri Lanka will go to the polls on Saturday to choose a new president, an election that will decide the future of the country that struggles with security challenges after the Easter Sunday bombings and increasing political polarisation.
The election will see a close contest between former wartime defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 70, and the ruling party candidate Sajith Premadasa, 52. Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition is also a strong candidate.
There are 15.9 million eligible voters who will choose a successor to President Maithripala Sirisina among a record 35 candidates. Sirisena, who was elected in 2015, is not seeking a re-election. The front runner candidates would be either depending on their legacies or hoping that the larger electorate would forget them while making their choices.