National People’s Power Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been officially elected as the Ninth Executive President of Sri Lanka, marking the beginning of a new era that brings hope for alleviating the hardships faced by the people in the aftermath of the unprecedented economic crisis of 2022.
During the campaign, Dissanayake took a tough stance on corruption and vowed to bring massive political transformation under his rule.
Dissanayake emerged victorious over his closest rival, Sajith Premadasa, by a margin of approximately 10 percentage, as reported by the official count from the Election Commission. NPP sources said that he is scheduled to take oaths before the Chief Justice today as the Ninth Executive President of the country.The NPP won 14 district out of 22 districts whereas the SJB secured only eight districts.
The NPP Leader has garnered over 50% of votes across all districts in the Western, Southern, North Western, North Central provinces while Premadasa won in the Nuwara Eliya, Puttalama, Badulla, Jaffna, Wanni, Batticaloa, Trincomalee districts
He received a total of 5,740,179 votes, which comprised 105,264 preferential votes, whereas Sajith Premadasa from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya secured 4,530,902 votes, including 167,867 during the second count.
For the first time in the election history of the country, the Presidential election went into a second round of counting yesterday after no single candidate won more than 50% of the vote.
Announcing the official results of the 2024 Presidential election, Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L.Rathnayake said the Commission has not received any complaints concerning illegal activities or obstructions occurring at polling stations throughout the country.
Rathnayake said that the commission started counting second and third preferences as the Dissanayake and Premadasa have failed to obtain 50 per cent of votes.
He added that according to election regulations, a second counting must be conducted if none of the candidates secures 50 per cent of the votes.
“Presidential candidates other than NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa have been removed from the fray and the commission has started counting the their first and second preferences”
Rathnayake highlighted to the President-elect the necessity of amending various regulations pertaining to the election process. He noted that a Parliamentary Select Committee, along with other parliamentary committees, had deliberated on the significance of introducing amendments to the election regulations, including the provision of facilities for Sri Lankans overseas to participate in the electoral process.
He expressed his hope that the President-elect would give this matter serious consideration prior to the upcoming election.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake of NPP obtained 5634,915 votes and his main rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya obtained 4,363,035 in the first count, according to official results.
“In the first round, NPP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake emerged in the lead with 42.31 per cent.In the second place was the SJB leader Sajith Premadasa who received 32.76 per cent.
UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who ran as an independent candidate backed by dissenting parliamentarians of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, became third-place garnering 2,299,767 votes.
The United National Party and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya lost their many strongholds including Borella. However, celebratory firecrackers were not heard in the city or suburbs after the Election Chief announced the winner of the crucial election. There was no sign of major mobilization of Security Forces and the entire election process was peaceful and free from major incidents.
