Marxist Dissanayake wins Sri Lanka's presidential election as voters reject old guard


Marxist Dissanayake wins Sri Lanka

Updated 7:48 PM GMT+5, September 22, 2024 Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday claimed he had won Sri Lanka’s presidential election. “This victory belongs to all of us,” Dissanayake said in a post on X Official results were expected to be announced, but according to tallies released by the Election Commission, Dissanayake secured 42% of the votes followed by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa with 32%. Incumbent liberal President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took over the country two years ago after its economy hit rock bottom, came distant a third and secured 17% of the votes. Campaigning by Dissanayake in favor of working class and against political elite made him popular among youth as the country seeks to recover from the worst economic crisis in its history and the resulting political upheaval. Neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote. The Sri Lankan election system allows voters to select three candidates on their ballots in the order of their preference. If no candidate secures a majority, the top two will be retained and the ballots of the eliminated candidates will be checked for preferences given to either of the top two candidates, and those votes will be added to their respective tallies. The candidate with the highest number of votes after that will be declared the winner.