Sri Lanka presidential election goes to historic second count

Security personnel outside a counting centre in Colombo. Pic/AFP

In a historic first, Sri Lanka's presidential election on Sunday went into a second round of counting after no candidate secured over 50 per cent vote needed to win the election. The latest results showed Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People's Power (NPP) had won 39.52 per cent of the votes counted.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya is in second place with nearly 34.28 per cent of total votes. Sri Lankans voted on Saturday to elect a new president in the first election since the economic meltdown in 2022. Election Commission Chairman R M A L Rathnayake said that Dissanayake and Premadasa have secured maximum votes in the 2024 presidential election.

However, he said that as neither has secured more than 50 per cent vote, the second preference vote will be counted and added to the two candidates. Voters in Sri Lanka elect a single winner by ranking up to three candidates in order of preference. If a candidate receives an absolute majority, they will be declared the winner.

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