Sri Lanka’s election poses a challenge for the new leader

Votes are being counted in Sri Lanka following snap parliamentary elections, just seven weeks after the new president was sworn in.

More than 8,800 candidates are running in an election marked by a low-key campaign.

Voting begins at 07:00 local time (01:30 GMT) and lasts until 16:00 (10:30 GMT). Results are expected on Friday.

Of the 225 seats in parliament, 196 parliamentarians will be directly elected. Those remaining will be nominated by political parties based on the percentage of votes they receive in what is known as proportional representation.

Rohana Hettiarachchi, executive director of poll monitoring group People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, told the BBC: “More than 8,800 candidates from 49 political parties and 284 independent groups are taking part. running for election, but there are only about 1,000 candidates actively campaigning.”

High inflation and food and fuel shortages caused a political crisis in 2022 that led to the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. His successor Ranil Wickremesinghe negotiated a deal a $3 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund – but many Sri Lankans continue to struggle economically.

“We are still stuck with the problems we faced before,” said Manjula Devi, 26, a garment factory worker who works at the Katunayake Free Trade Zone near Colombo. We still have no financial help to meet our daily needs.” told the BBC.

The number of people living below the poverty line in Sri Lanka has increased by 25.9% in the past four years. The World Bank predicts the economy will grow only 2.2% in 2024.

“Sri Lanka has yet to recover from the economic crisis of 2022, even with the IMF bailout,” Raisa Wickrematunge, deputy editor of Himal Southasian magazine, told the BBC.

“I’m writing this from Sri Jayawardenapura General Hospital, a public hospital that is turning off lights and fans to try to reduce skyrocketing electricity costs.”

In 2022, the country defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time, forcing it to seek debt restructuring agreements.

Observers expect a multi-sided competition in the general election, in which 17.1 million voters are registered to participate. A split vote could ultimately reduce the chances of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party of enacting ambitious reforms.

“Analysts predict he may struggle to win two-thirds and may have to rely on coalitions. This will make his task much more difficult,” Raisa Wickrematunge said.

The election campaign was largely peaceful and there were no reports of election-related deaths or large-scale misuse of government resources.

“The violence is negligible compared to previous elections,” Rohana Hettiarachchie hopes. It will be a peaceful election.”