Sri Lanka: Polling stations closed in the country’s first election since the economic crisis

Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to face tough competition from Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, despite bringing calm to a country stricken with chaos.

– I have taken this country out of bankruptcy. I will now give Sri Lanka a developed economy, a developed social system and a developed political system,” Wickremesinghe said as he cast his vote.

But as a requirement in connection with a rescue package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government had to increase the VAT from 15 percent to 18 percent, which has caused discontent in the island state of around 22 million inhabitants, of whom around 17 million have the right to vote.

Marx-inspired Dissanayake is considered a narrow favorite based on opinion polls. The 55-year-old has built up considerable support with promises to change the island state’s political culture, which he calls corrupt.

Opposition leader Premadasa is also expected to make a good choice, and both he and Dissanayake have promised to change the terms of Sri Lanka’s rescue package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Around an hour before the polls closed at 4pm local time, turnout was around 70 per cent. Final results from the election are expected on Sunday.