Colombo

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party, and Namal Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party cast their votes on Saturday as the island nation holds its presidential election, the first after its worst-ever economic crisis.

A total of 39 candidates are in the fray with incumbent President Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Premadasa, and Marxist leader Anura Dissanayake being considered the front-runners in the election which is being keenly watched in the region considering the island nation's growing strategic importance in the current geopolitical scenario.

India, which has traditional ties with Sri Lanka is concerned over China's growing influence over the tiny nation in its neighborhood.

Out of the total population of around 22 million, 17,140,350 Sri Lankans are eligible to exercise their franchise at this election. This includes 1.2 million new voters.

Polling began at 7 A.M. at 3,421 polling centers across the country and will end at 4 P.M. with the counting of votes to begin soon at 1,274 counting centers and 439 postal vote-counting centers.

According to Saman Sri Ratnayake, the Commissioner General of Elections, the first election result is expected around 11 pm Saturday, and full results are expected to be announced on Sunday.

Election observers from various countries besides the European Union have also been invited by the Lankan Election Commission to monitor the entire exercise.

Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror reported that over 63,000 police officers, 2,500 special task force personnel, and 12,000 civil defence members have been deployed for election duties to ensure a secure voting environment.

President Wickremesinghe is facing a stiff competition from two other political heavyweights, namely Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake who was leading opinion polls ahead of Saturday’s election, and Sajith Premadasa who is the son of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa and the chief of the main Opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).

Who becomes the next President of Sri Lanka will be of importance to New Delhi as it is concerned about the growing influence of Beijing in a nation that had traditionally been a strong ally of India till its economic woes pushed it into China's debt economy trap.

Out of all the presidential candidates in the fray today, Sajith Premadasa has been most critical of Beijing's growing influence and involvement in Sri Lanka.

In the 2019 election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was elected as the President after recording a landslide victory.

However, a severe economic crisis after the COVID-19 pandemic - along with several shortsighted decisions - led to a major economic crisis in the country with severe shortages of essentials like food, fuel, medicine, and cooking gas.

Widespread protests and violence forced Gotabaya to flee the country in July 2022 with several other members in the Rajapaksas family also going into hiding.

As he left, Gotabaya invited Wickremesinghe to take over the country with the support of a nearly 60 percent SLPP majority in the parliament.

Having gradually controlled the economic crisis, Wickremesinghe asked SLPP to support him in the upcoming Presidential Election but the Rajapaksas accused the President of dividing their party and denied any support.

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Later, Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, also entered Sri Lanka's Presidential election race.