Sri Lanka’s 17.1 million voters head to the polls again on Thursday to vote in snap parliamentary elections, barely seven weeks after choosing a new president.
More than 8,800 candidates are in the fray in an election marked by a low-key campaign.
Voting begins at 07:00 local time (01:30 GMT) and ends until 16:00 (10.30 GMT). Counting will start in the evening and results are expected on Friday.
Out of 225 seats in the parliament, 196 MPs will be directly elected. The rest would be nominated by political parties based on the percentage of votes they get in what is known as proportional representation.
High inflation, food and fuel shortages precipitated a political crisis in 2022 which led to the ousting of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. His successor Ranil Wickremesinghe managed to negotiate a bailout package worth $3bn with the International Monetary Fund – but many Sri Lankans continue to feel economic hardship.
The number of people living below the poverty line in Sri Lanka has risen to 25.9% in the past four years. The World Bank expects the economy to grow by only 2.2% in 2024.
In 2022, the country defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time, forcing it to seek debt restructuring deals.
Observers expect a multi-cornered contest in the general election, in which 17.1 million voters are registered to take part. A split vote may ultimately dent the chances of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), enacting ambitious reforms.
The election campaign has been largely peaceful with no reports of poll-related deaths or large scale misuse of government resources.
