Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the of the Marxist JVP's broader front of National People's Power (NPP), was leading in the Sri Lankan presidential elections on Sunday morning. However, the election went into a second round of counting after none of the candidates secured more than 50 per cent vote required to be declared the winner.
This is the first time that vote counting is entering a second round in the country. The results on Sunday afteroon revealed that Dissanayake had won 39.52 per cent of the votes counted while pposition leader Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya came in second with around 34.28 per cent votes.
Sri Lankan Election Commission Chairman RMAL Rathnayake said both candidates have bagged the maximum votes but added that as neither has secured more than 50 per cent votes, the poll panel will now count the second preference vote and add them to the current votes scored by the candidates.
Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and other candidates have been disqualified, stated the Election Commission.
READ THE WEEK'S SRI LANKA POLL PREDICTION: Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the surprising frontrunner in the presidential poll
THE WEEK had reported that Dissanayake was the "surprising frontrunner" in the elections in the cover story of its September 22 issue. Senior Special Correspondent Lakshmi Subramanian reported that Dissanayake, with his Marxist ideology, has turned out to be one of the most popular candidates. He is campaigning on a platform of anti-corruption and clean governance in a country that still reels under severe debt, reads the cover story.
“The people have endured these governments for a long time and are exhausted by the repeated failure of governance,” Anura said. “The breakdown of law and order has left them vulnerable to underworld crime. The collapse of the economy has further victimised the population, while critical sectors like education, health and transport have deteriorated. As a result, people are desperate to break free from their victimhood and helplessness. This desire for change is what draws them to us.”
Anura's popularity hit a new peak right before the elections as he enjoyed the support of university students, teachers and the working class.
