Sri Lanka presidential election 2024 candidates: Who is running?

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By Editor_1
President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena gesture as they arrive at the Election Commission in Rajagiriya, on Thursday (August 15, 2024)  to submit his nomination papers for the presidential election, scheduled for September 21, 2024  -Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters
By Uditha Jayasinghe

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe became the first candidate to officially register for the presidential election on Sept. 21, in which almost 17 million of the 22 million population are eligible to vote.

Candidates had until Aug. 14 to post non-refundable deposits to the Election Commission and submit nominations on Thursday (15)

Below are short profiles of some of the candidates who submitted their nomination papers on Thursday and have held campaign rallies over the past few months:

Ranil Wickremesinghe, 75

A lawyer who has served as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister a record six times, Wickremesinghe holds only one seat in Parliament and will need to drum up support from key parties to bolster his chances of staying in the top job.

Wickremesinghe, who is the leader of the United National Party (UNP), took office in July 2022 after widespread protests caused by a debilitating financial crisis forced his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee Sri Lanka and later resign.

Parliament elected Wickremesinghe to serve out the rest of the five-year term vacated by Rajapaksa, who was elected in November 2019.

Wickremesinghe paid his deposit to the Election Commission after Friday’s (9) announcement, his office said. His next move will be to write to other parties requesting support for his candidature and policy agenda, which has been rolled out over the past two years.

It will be critical for Wickremesinghe to secure support from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the party which holds the most number of seats in Parliament and was founded by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother Basil Rajapaksa.

Sajith Premadasa, 57

Sri Lanka’s opposition leader and son of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, he leads the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) that broke with Wickremesinghe’s UNP in 2019.

His centrist, more left-leaning party has called for changes to the $2.9 billion bailout program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and outlined plans to adjust some of the targets, including changing some taxes to reduce the cost of living. Premadasa favours a mix of interventionist and free-market economic policies.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, 55

Despite holding just three seats in the 225-member house, Dissanayake’s pledges to implement tough anti-corruption measures and improve governance have given a popular boost to his Marxist-leaning Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). His party has traditionally backed stronger state intervention and more closed-market economic policies.

Sarath Fonseka, 73

A former army chief, Fonseka oversaw the end of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war. He is a member of Premadasa’s SJB but the two have recently drifted apart. He has vowed to crush corruption and boost the economy.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, 65

Justice Minister and a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Rajapakshe is working to consolidate his standing within the party and has pledged to boost development if elected.

-Reuters

 

 

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