Voting begins in Sri Lankan presidential election

​​​​​​​By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - Voting in Sri Lanka’s 2024 presidential election began Saturday.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. (0130GMT) to 4 p.m. (1030GMT) at 13,421 stations across the island nation.

More than 17 million voters are eligible to cast ballots to elect a president to a five-year term.

It is the first presidential election since Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in 2022, leading to the ouster of the government, including the serving president.

Among nearly 40 candidates vying for votes are incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, Marxist-leaning parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Namal Rajapaksa, the heir apparent to the once-powerful Rajapaksa clan.

The election is seen as a referendum on Wickremesinghe’s two years in office, which has seen a slight recovery in the country’s economy since the 2022 financial crisis.