COLOMBO, Sept 19: Sri Lanka is set to vote for its next president on Saturday, in what amounts to a referendum on an International Monetary Fund (IMF) austerity plan introduced after the country’s financial crisis.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 75, is seeking a new mandate after stabilising the economy and ending shortages of food, fuel, and medicine.
Wickremesinghe also restored calm after civil unrest in 2022, which saw thousands storm the residence of his predecessor, who fled the country.
“Think of the time when all hope was lost… we didn’t have food, gas, medicine, or any hopes.
“Now you have a choice. Decide if you want to go back to the period of terror, or progress,” Wickremesinghe said in the closing days of the campaign.
However, his austerity measures, including tax hikes as part of a $2.9-billion IMF bailout, have left millions of Sri Lankans struggling.
The economy remains vulnerable, and the country’s $46-billion foreign debt remains unpaid since a 2022 default.
Wickremesinghe has pledged to continue the IMF programme if elected, warning that deviating from it could lead to further economic hardship.
“The election will largely be a referendum on how Wickremesinghe’s government has handled the economic crisis and the ensuing modest recovery,” the International Crisis Group said in a report this week.
Wickremesinghe faces competition from strong challengers: Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, leader of a Marxist party with a violent history, but now gaining popularity by promising to overhaul the “corrupt” political system.
The crisis has been a political opportunity for Dissanayaka, who is benefiting from public anger over corruption and economic mismanagement.
The other formidable candidate is Sajith Premadasa, once aligned with Wickremesinghe but now campaigning on a platform of securing more lenient terms from the IMF.
Premadasa, the son of a former president assassinated during Sri Lanka’s civil war, has promised to revise the IMF’s tax structure, which has driven professionals to leave the country.
Sri Lanka’s poverty rate doubled between 2021 and 2022, with 25 percent of the population living on less than $3.65 a day, according to official data.
The IMF has said reforms are showing positive results, with inflation falling from a peak of 70 percent to under five percent, and economic growth gradually returning.
However, the IMF warned that while progress has been made, Sri Lanka is not yet fully recovered, stressing the need to safeguard the gains achieved. – TVS
