Economy on centre stage, as Sri Lanka set to vote today in first polls since 2022 crisis

As Sri Lanka continues to recover from the devastating economic crisis of 2022, the people of the island nation, who have been bearing the brunt of the strict austerity measures, will head to polling booths in the first elections after the crisis, and the economy will remain on the top of the agenda.

The crisis, which led to widespread food and fuel shortages, prompted Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country in 2022. The economic policy of Rajapaksa, followed by the onset of the Covid pandemic, is believed to have led to the worst economic crisis in the island nation.

Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, assumed office as interim president in July 2022 following Rajapaksa’s removal, is now seeking re-election.

He faces challenges from Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party (JVP) and Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya party (SJB).

Voting will take place at 13,134 polling stations in Sri Lanka, beginning at 7 am (local time) and closing at 4 pm (local time). The counting of votes is expected to begin at 9:30 pm (local time), as per Al Jazeera.

A total of 38 candidates are vying to win the top executive post in Sri Lanka. While the number of candidates was initially 39, one candidate, independent Idroos Mohamed Ilyas, died of a heart attack in August.

Notably, though Ranil Wickremesinghe, has been affiliated with the centre-right United National Party (UNP), he is running for the top job as an independent candidate, after the party announced another candidate for the post.

Wickremesinghe has been campaigning with his slogan “Puluwan Sri Lanka” or “Sri Lanka Can”, while weighing on the plank that he pulled the country out of an economic crisis.

While several economic indices of the Sri Lankan economy have improved, with inflation reducing dramatically, and the gross domestic product (GDP) showing healthy growth, Wickremesinghe, however, has been facing criticisms by opponents for belonging to the very same political elite that is blamed for the 2022 economic crisis, as reported by the Al Jazeera.

The incumbent president has governed with the backing of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party of the Rajapaksa family.

The critics have also accused Wickremasinghe, whose policies have included cuts in social welfare schemes to balance the country’s books, of making the weaker sections of Sri Lankan society bear the brunt of the sacrifices needed for the nation’s economic recovery.

Other than the incumbent president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has soared in popularity after the 2022 crisis.

The 55-year-old played an active role in the protest movement and has been critical of a USD 2.9 billion bailout deal Sri Lanka struck with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), claiming that it has increased the cost of living for Sri Lankans.

Though the JVP party is still considered a marginal player in Sri Lanka’s parliament, Dissanayake’s popularity has been soaring. At the centre of his political campaign is a promise to eliminate corruption that appears to have resonated with large sections of Sri Lankan society, Al Jazeera reported.

Sajith Premadasa is another major candidate in the fray. He founded the populist Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) after breaking away from Wikremesinghe’s UNP. Premadasa, son of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, is also the current leader of opposition in Sri Lanka’s parliament.

A longtime rival of Wickremasinghe when they both belonged to the UNP, Premadasa also contested the 2019 presidential election, in which he lost to Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

However, in recent years, Premadasa, has tried to court the country’s Tamil vote — the community constitutes 11 per cent of the Buddhist-majority nation.

A prominent party representing Tamils from the north and east of the country, the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), has thrown its support behind the opposition leader Premadasa. In the 2019 election, a significant number of Tamils voted for him, Al Jazeera reported.

Though, the 2022 economic crisis led to the ouster of Rajapakshas. Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is contesting the elections. At 38, the SLPP leader is the youngest candidate in the fray.

However, support for the Rajapaksa family is at its lowest due to the economic havoc of 2022.

He also served as the minister of youth and sports under his uncle’s presidency between 2020 and 2022.

But, it is pertinent to note that Sri Lanka, which gave the world its first female PM – Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike – in 1960, won’t have any woman candidates on the ballot in this election.

Meanwhile, the polls have shown Dissanayake as the frontrunner in the elections.

The Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey by the Institute for Health Policy (IHP), showed the leftist leader at 48 per cent, followed by Premadasa at 25 per cent. Incumbent Wickremesinghe is third with 20 per cent. Namal Rajapaksa trails far behind at 5 per cent.

Al Jazeera also cited the Numbers.Ik, the website which compiles statistics about Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is leading with 40 per cent, followed by Premadasa at 29 per cent and incumbent Wickremesinghe trailing at 25 per cent. This is based on online data collected between September 9 and September 16. The economy is the biggest issue for the people of Sri Lanka in the presidential election.

Sri Lanka was hit by a massive economic crisis in 2022, as inflation rose to 70 per cent and the currency plunged by 45 per cent. For months, people formed long queues to fetch fuel, which badly impacted the daily lives of people.

All of this turned into a massive anti-government uprising, with people storming into the President’s residence. The Rajapaksa family, which was enjoying a long-run in the island nation, were forced to flee. However,