Sri Lanka president faces tough challengers in elections

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe faces 38 challengers in polls next month, the election commission said Thursday after nominations closed, with ally-turned-rival Sajith Premadasa leading the pack.

It will be the first vote since Wickremesinghe took over two years ago after protesters furious at an unprecedented financial crisis toppled strongman president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and the economy remains at the forefront.

Wickremesinghe, 75, faces a daunting challenge from 57-year-old career politician Premadasa, the parliamentary leader of the opposition, as well as from leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, 55, whose National People’s Power (NPP) coalition is popular among the young.

But what started as a three-way battle became a more complicated contest last week, when the influential Rajapaksa family withdrew crucial support for Wickremesinghe in place of one of their own — Namal Rajapaksa.

The 38-year-old is a member of parliament and son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former president and prime minister, and brother of Gotabaya.

The South Asian majority Buddhist island nation of around 22 million people will vote on September 21.