The outcome of Sri Lanka’s presidential election remains undecided, with a second count set to determine the winner. Stay updated on the latest developments in the electoral process.

Sri Lanka’s presidential election has entered a second round for the first time in its history, as no candidate secured the required 50 percent of votes. This is the first election since the country was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis two years ago.

Marxist-leaning candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who presents himself as a break from the traditional political elite, led the polls with 39.5 percent of the vote. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa followed closely with 34 percent. The Election Commission confirmed that the incumbent President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, along with 36 other candidates, had been disqualified.

A second round of vote counting is currently underway to determine the final outcome. According to Al Jazeera’s Minelle Fernandez, reporting from Colombo, the preferential votes cast by the electorate are being added to the totals of the two leading candidates. “We are expecting the final result fairly soon,” she said.

Wickremesinghe, who oversaw the country’s economic recovery after it defaulted on its loans in 2022, placed third with just 17 percent of the vote. Despite his efforts to stabilize the economy, voters were swayed by his failure to address the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. His close ties to the Rajapaksa family, widely blamed for the economic downturn, also appeared to hurt his candidacy.

The economy dominated the election agenda, with Dissanayake, 55, promising welfare programs to alleviate the struggles of the population. He has been an outspoken critic of the austerity measures tied to the country’s loan agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and vowed to renegotiate the terms of the deal. Dissanayake leads the left-leaning coalition National People’s Power, presenting himself as a candidate for change. His popularity surged following the 2022 protests, which led to the resignation of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, paving the way for Wickremesinghe’s leadership.

“The election results clearly show that the uprising we witnessed in 2022 is not over,” commented Pradeep Peiris, a political scientist from the University of Colombo.

Premadasa, 57, the son of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa who was assassinated, has also promised to revisit the terms of the IMF agreement.

According to the Election Commission, approximately 75 percent of the 17 million eligible voters participated in the election.