Marxist politician leads Sri Lanka’s presidential vote

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka’s main Marxist politician took a comfortable lead Sunday in a keenly fought presidential election that has turned into a referendum on an unpopular IMF bailout.

Early results from Saturday’s vote strongly suggested that the 55-year-old Anura Kumara Dissanayaka could end up the first leftist commander-in-chief and head of state of the small but strategically placed island nation.

Dissanayaka had 58 per cent of the 250,000 votes counted out of just over 700,000 postal ballots. Public servants involved in conducting the election are entitled to post their ballots, which are the first to be counted.

Election officials said Dissanayaka was leading in the rest of the country, making his victory almost certain, and a major rival candidate has already conceded.

About 76 per cent of the 17.1 million person electorate turned out for Saturday’s vote, and final results are expected later on Sunday.