Sri Lanka president election: Dissanayake declared winner

Sri Lanka president election: Dissanayake declared winner

Sri Lanka's presidential election winner has been announced. Left-wing politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected President. The Election Commission of the country declared him the winner after the second round of vote counting on Sunday. Al Jazeera reported. 

The country's election commission declared him the winner after the second round of vote counting on Sunday (September 22). This made the 55-year-old Dishanayake the island nation's first left-wing head of state.

Presidential election was held in Sri Lanka on Saturday (21 September) after almost two years of political instability caused by an unprecedented economic crisis. Then the counting of votes started. But at the end of the counting, no candidate got the required 51 percent votes.

Sri Lanka's electoral system allows voters to vote for up to three candidates of their choice on a ballot paper. if a candidate does not get 51 percent of the votes in the first count, a second round of votes is counted. In that case the winner is determined by taking into consideration the top two candidates.

According to the election rules, the votes obtained by the top two candidates Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa are counted what is the first in the history of Sri Lanka.  

After counting the votes, the Election Commission announces the winner. Left-wing politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake became the first to vote. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa is in second place. Current President Ranil Wickremesinghe came third.