ROAD TO REDEMPTION

Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the surprising frontrunner in the presidential election, with Sajith Premadasa and Ranil Wickremesinghe following closely behind, as people look for a leader who can guide them out of the continuing economic crisis

- LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

The statue of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, the former prime minister who led Sri Lanka through several political upheavals, stands on a pedestal at the iconic Galle Face Green, the famous city park near the presidential secretariat in Colombo. It was from here that the people of Sri Lanka started the movement to overthrow the powerful Rajapaksas two years ago. Today, however, an uneasy calm prevails on the streets of Colombo as Sri Lanka gets ready to elect its next president on September 21. Despite the presence of 39 candidates-a few of them offering some fairly revolutionary policy options-the 1.7 crore voters of Sri Lanka do not appear really excited.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) is contesting as an independent, backed by a major section of legislators from former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). Also in the fray are opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Mahinda's son, Namal. Sajith's Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SIB) has aligned with some of the prominent parties and has the support of the Tamil and the Muslim minorities, who form 11 per cent and 9.7 per cent of the population, respectively. Anura is a Marxist-Leninist leader from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the main constituent of the National People's Power (NPP) coalition.

While Ranil, Sajith and Anura are the frontrunners, Namal, the youngest in the fray, has made the contest tough for them. He is the official SLPP candidate, but his chances of winning even half of the 69 lakh votes polled by his uncle Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019 appear remote.

Other important candidates include P. Ariyanethiran, the Tamil MP from the north, Nuwan Bopage, the activist lawyer who led the Aragalaya protest movement in 2022, and former military chief Sarath Fonseka.