Sri Lanka Votes in First Poll Since Economic Collapse

AFP/APP

Colombo: Cash-strapped Sri Lanka began voting for its next president on Saturday in what is seen as an effective referendum on the unpopular International Monetary Fund (IMF) austerity plan, implemented after the island nation’s unprecedented financial crisis.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe faces an uphill battle for a fresh mandate to continue the belt-tightening measures that have stabilized the economy and ended months of food, fuel, and medicine shortages.

Wickremesinghe’s two years in office restored calm to the streets after civil unrest, triggered by the economic downturn in 2022, saw thousands of citizens storm the compound of his predecessor, who promptly fled the country.

“We must continue with reforms to end bankruptcy,” Wickremesinghe, 75, urged during his final rally in Colombo this week. “Decide if you want to go back to the period of terror, or progress.”

However, Wickremesinghe’s tax hikes and other austerity measures, implemented as part of the terms of a $2.9 billion IMF bailout, have left millions of Sri Lankans struggling to make ends meet.