Political situation in Sri Lanka

Opinion polls indicate that a Marxist will become the new president

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the Marxist party JVP, will be the next president of Sri Lanka, if opinion polls are to be believed.

In a survey by the Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey, Dissanayake receives 48 percent of the vote. It is a substantial lead over opposition colleague Sajith Premadasa and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe with 25 and 20 percent each.

Another poll gives Dissanayake 40 percent of the vote to Premadasa's 29.

According to Al Jazeera, Dissanayake's party has so far not been a major player in parliament, but grew strongly during the protests against former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022. During the term, Dissanayake has been a strong opponent of President Ranil Wickremesinghe's austerity policies.

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The President's Warning: "Success or Terror"

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is warning voters ahead of Saturday's presidential election in Sri Lanka, reports AFP.

- Choose whether you want to return to the period of terror, or whether you want progress, he says.

Wickremesinghe has implemented unpopular austerity reforms in exchange for a loan of the equivalent of almost 30 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

During the president's two years in power, the economy has stabilized and the acute food shortage has ended, but Wickremesinghe is expected to lose to one of the challengers from the opposition parties.

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Poverty has rushed: "We need a good government"

For the poor in the suburb of "Slave Island" in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, life is often hard, writes Le Monde.

70-year-old Phinnaya Beebee has just returned empty-handed from the market when the newspaper meets her. The 130 Sri Lankan rupees she had with her is equivalent to about four Swedish kronor, and was not enough for the coconuts she hoped to buy.

- It is so difficult to live. We need a good government, she says.

Electricity, gas and food prices have tripled in Sri Lanka in recent years, and the percentage of people living below the poverty line has risen from about 11 percent to nearly 30 percent.

The candidates in Saturday's election have all gone to the polls on solutions to the country's economic crisis. The election results are expected on Sunday.
A Marxist, a populist and an austerity zealot among the Sri Lankans' choices