Anudha Kumara Dishanayake was elected as the President of Sri Lanka
September 23, 2024Updated:September 23, 20242 Mins Read
International Desk: National People's Power candidate Anudha Kumara Dishanaye has won the elections held in Sri Lanka on Saturday, the Election Commission of the country has confirmed on Sunday.

Election Commission officials said that 55-year-old Dishanaye will be sworn in at the colonial-era presidential secretariat in Colombo on Monday morning.

Xinhua from Colombo reported that the Election Commission counted the second and third choice votes of the top two candidates in the second round for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka's presidential election, as no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.

Dishanayake secured 5,634,915 votes in the first count and 105,264 votes in the second count.

His main rival, opposition Samagi Jana Balawega candidate Sajith Premadasa secured 4,363,035 votes in the first count and 167,867 votes in the second count.

In a post on social media platform “X” (formerly Twitter) after the election results, Dishanaye said, 'Millions of hopeful eyes inspire us to move forward and together we are ready to rewrite the history of Sri Lanka.'

His post said, 'This dream can only be realized through a fresh start. Unity of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and all Sri Lankans is the basis of this new beginning. The new renaissance we seek will arise from this collective energy and dream.'

Incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe came third in the contest with a total of 2,299,767 votes.

As announced by the Election Commission, Anudha Kumara Dishanayake was elected as the President with 42.31 percent votes. His two nearest rivals, Samagi John Balawaga (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa, got 32.76 percent of the votes. Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe got only 17 percent of the votes.

Through this, more than two years after the president fled the country in the face of mass protests, Sri Lanka got an elected president Anudha Kumara was elected president, ending the single rule of more than a decade and a half of Rajapaksa Parir in Sri Lanka.

Since Sri Lanka's independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has been ruled by two dominant political parties or a coalition of them or parts thereof. One of these is the United National Party (UNP), a party led by the Rajapaksa family. Mahinda Rajapaksa has been elected president and prime minister several times from the party. His younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the last president before fleeing the country in the face of a popular coup.

Who led the mass revolution, said Sadiq, President of DU Shibir