Sri Lanka’s presidential election a test for current leader, 2 years after its economy hit bottom
Associated PressSEP 20 2024
1Anura Kumara Dissanayake, popularly known as AKD, of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), or People's Liberation Front, took his oath as Sri Lanka's new president on Monday.
Fact-1This comes a day after the country's election commission announced that the leader of the National People's Power (NPP) alliance had won Saturday's elections — the first since mass protests broke out in 2022 amid economic turmoil.
AKD received 42.3% of the votes, while opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe secured 32.8% and 17% to finish second and third, respectively. Voter turnout was at about 75% of the 17M eligible voters.