COLOMBO — Polling in Sri Lanka’s presidential election concluded on Saturday, with voters participating from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. local time at 13,421 stations across the island nation. The final results are expected to be announced on Sunday.

Over 17 million eligible voters cast their ballots to elect a president for a five-year term. This election marks the first since Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in 2022, which led to the ousting of the government, including the then-serving president.

Among the nearly 40 candidates were incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Marxist-leaning parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and Namal Rajapaksa, heir to the once-dominant Rajapaksa political dynasty.

This election is widely viewed as a referendum on Wickremesinghe’s leadership over the past two years, during which the country has experienced a modest recovery from the financial crisis of 2022. — Agencies