Sri Lanka set to go for prez election on Sept 21, puts end to speculations

Sri Lanka will hold the presidential poll on September 21, the election commission announced on Friday, ending the months-long speculation over the key contest which is likely to determine the future of economic reforms in the cash-strapped country.

This will be the first election to be held in Sri Lanka after it plunged into economic bankruptcy in 2022.

The government gazette issued on Friday said in terms of Article 31 (3) of the Constitution the election would take place on September 21 while the nominations would be accepted on August 15.

The announcement of the much-awaited election ended months-long speculation that the election would be postponed to extend the term of the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Opposition parties had expressed concern that the election might not be held at all. The government, however, repeatedly insisted that the election would be held on time.

The election announcement set to end the balance term of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was ousted in mid-2022 in a popular public uprising. Rajapaksa had been elected with a record near 7 million votes in November 2019 when the last presidential election was held.

Tens of thousands, who took to the streets, in early 2022 demanded Rajapaksa step down for his failure to tackle the island's gravest economic crisis since 1948. Rajapaksa was forced to flee the country on July 9, 2022, and incumbent Wickremesinghe, who was the crisis prime minister at that time, was elected through parliament to succeed Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe, 75, undertook the difficult task of reviving the bankrupt economy by tapping a bail-out facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

India provided Sri Lanka with a lifeline of $ 4 billion in the first quarter of 2022 which paid for food and essential imports in the balance of payment crisis.

By mid-April, Sri Lanka had declared its first sovereign default. A year later came the IMF's first tranche of the nearly $ 3 billion facility to be extended over four years.

However, the stringent reforms attached to the programme made the government unpopular.

Wickremesinghe stood firm in his commitment to implement reforms and has vowed to steer the country out of bankruptcy.

He is expected to vie for his return as the president. Wickremesinghe has yet to officially announce his candidature.

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka's former Army chief and the architect of the military offensive that led to the annihilation of the LTTE, on Thursday formally declared his candidacy for the election.

The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa, the Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe are also vying for the post.