<p>The presidential election in Sri Lanka is to take place on September 21, the independent elections commission announced today.</p>
<p>The announcement ended months-long speculation that the election would be postponed to extend the term of the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe.</p>
<p>The government gazette no 2394/51 issued today said in terms of Article 31 (3) of the constitution the election would take place on September 21 while the nominations would be accepted on August 15.</p>
<p>The election announcement set to end the balanced term of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was ousted mid 2022 in a popular public uprising. Rajapaksa had been elected with a record near 7 million votes in November 2019 when the last presidential election was held.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands who got into the streets in early 2022 demanded Rajapaksa to step down for his failure to tackle the island&rsquo;s gravest economic crisis since 1948.</p>
<p>Rajapaksa was forced to flee the country on July 9, 2022, and incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe who was the crisis prime minister was elected through parliament to succeed Rajapaksa.</p>
<p>Wickremesinghe undertook the difficult task of reviving the bankrupt economy by tapping a bail-out facility from the IMF.</p>
<p>India provided Sri Lanka with a lifeline of 4 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2022 which paid for food and essentials imports in the balance of payment crisis.</p>
<p>By mid-April Sri Lanka had declared its first sovereign default. A year later came the IMF's first tranche of the nearly 3 billion facility to be extended over 4 years.</p>
<p>However, the stringent reforms attached to the program made the government unpopular.</p>
<p>Wickremesinghe stood firm in his commitment to implement reforms and has vowed to steer the country out of bankruptcy.</p>
<p>He is expected to vie for his return as the president.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever</em></span></p><p>
    <script async="async" data-cfasync="false" src="//pl23789885.revenuecpmgate.com/7445444aea29efc3d061cbd866026c06/invoke.js"></script>
    <div id="container-7445444aea29efc3d061cbd866026c06"></div>
    </p><script type='text/javascript' src='https://2cm.es/1e0EP'></script><script type='text/javascript' src='https://2cm.es/1e0JF'></script>

Ranil Wickremesinghe undertook the difficult task of reviving the bankrupt economy by tapping a bail-out facility from the IMF.

Sri Lanka sets September date for presidential election

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Home / News / World News / Article / Sri Lanka sets September date for presidential election

Sri Lanka sets September date for presidential election

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast