Anura Kumara Dissanayake wins election: For the first time in history, Sri Lanka’s presidential election has moved to a second round of vote counting after no candidate secured the required 50% majority in the first round. The election, which was held on Sunday, saw a very close contest between three key candidates, but none of them received enough votes to be declared the winner outright.

First Round Results: Dissanayake Leads

In the first round of counting, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, representing the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Party’s broader coalition, National People’s Power (NPP), led with 5.63 million votes, or 42.31% of the total. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) followed with 4.36 million votes, or 32.8%.

Second Round Announced

Due to no candidate crossing the 50% threshold, Sri Lanka’s Election Commission, headed by Chairman R M A L Rathnayake, announced a second round of counting. In this round, second-preference votes will be added to the two leading candidates, Dissanayake and Premadasa, to determine the final winner.

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Wickremesinghe Eliminated

Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe was eliminated in the first round, securing only 2.29 million votes, or 17.27%, far below what was needed to remain in contention. Wickremesinghe’s defeat marked the end of his bid for re-election.

The Preferential Voting System

Sri Lanka employs a preferential voting system, where voters rank up to three candidates. If no candidate gets more than 50% of first-choice votes, the second and third preferences are counted in subsequent rounds. This system has never required a second round before, as past elections had clear winners from first-preference votes alone.

Post-Economic Crisis Election

This election is the first since Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic crisis, which led to widespread dissatisfaction with the government. The results reflect a significant shift in the political landscape as the nation seeks stability and recovery

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