Colombo: Preparations have been completed for the presidential election in Sri Lanka. This is the first general election in Sri Lanka after the economic crisis of 2022. Voting will take place at more than 13,400 polling stations from 7 am to 5 pm on Saturday. About 1.7 crore registered voters are eligible to vote in this election. The election results will be announced on Sunday. Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe (75) is contesting as an independent candidate based on the success of his efforts to pull the country out of the economic crisis. Many experts have praised him for this.
International observers arrive in Sri Lanka
Meanwhile, a group of election observers from the European Union and the Commonwealth have arrived in Sri Lanka to monitor the presidential election to be held on Saturday. The 'NewsFirst' news portal reported on Friday that 116 representatives of various international election monitoring organizations have arrived in Sri Lanka to monitor the upcoming presidential election. 78 of the observers are from the EU. The EU has previously monitored elections in Sri Lanka six times. The last time the EU monitored was during the 2019 presidential election. Apart from this, 22 representatives of the Commonwealth have also arrived to participate in monitoring activities. These international observers have been deployed in 25 districts for monitoring.
keeping an eye on the electoral process
Danny Faure, chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Group monitoring the process in Colombo, is also observing the pre-election arrangements. He has inspected several polling stations. Danny Faure said, “We understand the importance of this election as Sri Lankans have been given the opportunity to vote for the first time since the Aragalaya movement in 2022. Our presence here reflects the Commonwealth's commitment to democratic values and principles.”
It's a triangular contest
Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe said at an election rally on Wednesday night, “I will ensure that I end the bankruptcy of the country by carrying forward the reforms we have started.” In a three-way electoral battle, Wickremesinghe will face tough competition from 56-year-old Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People's Power (NPP) and main opposition Sajith Premadasa (57) of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). Analysts believe that this is the first triangular contest in the history of Sri Lanka's presidential elections since 1982. (Language)
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