Sri Lanka election 2024: Who could be the next president, what’s at stake?

Economic issues top the agenda as the South Asian island country of 22 million heads to the polls to elect its 10th president.

Sri Lankans will vote on Saturday to elect the South Asian nation’s 10th president in the first election since the catastrophic 2022 economic crisis that saw the country default on its loans.

Months of food and fuel shortages had caused political chaos forcing then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country in July 2022.

The incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took over from Rajapaksa and has since tried to turn the economy around, is seeking re-election. He is being challenged by Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party and Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party.

Here is how the election will be held, what the top candidates are promising — and what’s at stake for the nation of 22 million people.

The voting will begin at 7am (01:30 GMT) on Saturday across the country’s 13,134 polling stations. Polls close at 4pm (10:30GMT). Vote counting is expected to start at 9:30pm (16:00 GMT).

A total of 38 candidates are vying to win the top executive post in the South Asian nation. While the number of candidates was initially 39, one candidate, independent Idroos Mohamed Ilyas, died of a heart attack in August.

The key candidates are:

Ranil Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, assumed office as interim president in July 2022 following Rajapaksa’s removal. While the 75-year-old has been affiliated with the centre-right United National Party (UNP), he is running for the top job as an independent candidate.

Wickremesinghe is campaigning with his slogan “Puluwan Sri Lanka” or “Sri Lanka Can” and on the message that he pulled the country