Sri Lanka votes for new president with economic future at stake

Whoever wins race will have to ensure nation sticks to IMF bailout plan till 2027

Sri Lankans voted on Sept 21 in an election to pick a president who will face the task of bolstering the country's fragile economic recovery following its worst financial crisis in decades.

The election is predicted to be a close contest between President Ranil Wickremesinghe, main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist-leaning challenger Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Mr Dissanayake narrowly led in one recent opinion poll.

Voting closed at 4pm (6.30pm Singapore time) and counting started afterwards, with results expected to be announced by the Election Commission on Sept 22. Postal votes were to be counted first, senior commission official Saman Sri Ratnayake told Reuters.

The country's election system allows voters to cast three preferential votes for their chosen candidates. If no candidate wins 50 per cent in the first count, a second round of counting determines the winner between the two top candidates, using the preferential votes. Analysts say this will likely be the case, given the close nature of the election.