Sri Lanka heads to first-ever presidential run-off as second count confirmed

The Chairman of the Election Commission, R.M.A.L. Ratnayake officially announced the counting of second preference of the two leading candidates of the 2024 presidential election, in view of the prevailing situation of the vote results.

NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was leading Sri Lanka’s presidential election after knocking out the incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe from the race, as officials on Sunday began a second round of vote counting for the first time in the nation’s history.

Mr. Ratnayake stated that accordingly, all the other candidates except for the National People’s Power (NPP) candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Samagi Jana Sandhanaya candidate Sajith Premadasa will be disqualified from the race.

The Election Commission Chairman announced this during a special media briefing, a short while ago.

According to the Presidential Elections Act of 1981, a candidate must secure at least 50 percent of the votes to win. Since no candidate reached this mark, the votes for the top two candidates - Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa - will be counted next.

Dissanayake, whose pro-working class and anti-political elite campaigning made him popular among youth, was leading with 39% of the votes counted, followed by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa with 34%, according to tallies released by the Election Commission.