Sri Lanka’s Presidential Election 2024: Anura Kumara Dissanayake Leads, Second Preference Count Announced
In an unexpected turn of events, Sri Lanka’s Elections Commission Chairman RLAM Ratnayake announced a second preference count for the 2024 presidential election. This decision came after early trends showed Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the National People’s Power, leading the polls.
Ratnayake stated that a second preference count would be conducted as no candidate secured over 50% of the votes, in line with the Presidential Elections Act of 1981. According to this act, if no candidate receives more than half of the valid votes, the candidate with the lowest votes is eliminated, and the second preferences of their voters are counted for the remaining candidates.
Earlier trends showed Dissanayake with 49.8% of the votes, Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya with 25.8%, and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party with 16.4%.
Polling was held on Saturday from 7 am to 4 pm local time across 22 electoral districts. This election is the first since the 2022 economic crisis, which caused severe food and fuel shortages and led to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country. Ranil Wickremesinghe, who became interim president in July 2022, is now seeking re-election.
Doubts Revealed
Sri Lanka -: Sri Lanka is a small island country located to the south of India in the Indian Ocean.
Presidential Election -: A presidential election is when people in a country vote to choose their leader, called the President.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake -: Anura Kumara Dissanayake is a politician in Sri Lanka who is running to become the President in the 2024 election.
Second Preference Count -: When no candidate gets more than 50% of the votes, they count the second choices of voters to decide the winner.
Sajith Premadasa -: Sajith Premadasa is another politician in Sri Lanka who is also running to become the President.
Incumbent President -: The incumbent President is the person who is currently the President. In this case, it is Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Economic Crisis -: An economic crisis is when a country faces big financial problems, like not having enough money or resources.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa -: Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the President of Sri Lanka before he was removed from office due to the economic crisis.
