The National People’s Power (NPP) Presidential candidate and Opposition Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected yesterday (22) as the ninth Executive President of Sri Lanka.
The Election Commission (EC) formally announced Dissanayake as the winner of the Election yesterday evening. The EC said that Dissanayake had garnered 42.31% of the votes at the 21 September Election, pushing Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya Leader Sajith Premadasa to the second place and the outgoing President and United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to a distant third. Dissanayake received 5,740,179 votes including preferences.
Dissanayake is due to be sworn-in today (23) at the Presidential Secretariat, according to unconfirmed reports that quoted NPP members.
After the release of the final results, which included preferential votes, in a post on the social media platform X, Dissanayake said: “The dream we have nurtured for centuries is finally coming true. This achievement is not the result of any single person’s work, but the collective effort of hundreds of thousands of you. Your commitment has brought us this far, and for that, I am deeply grateful. This victory belongs to all of us. Our journey here has been paved by the sacrifices of so many who gave their sweat, tears, and even their lives for this cause. Their sacrifices are not forgotten. We hold the sceptre of their hopes and struggles, knowing the responsibility that it carries. The millions of eyes filled with hope and expectation push us forward, and together, we stand ready to rewrite Sri Lankan history. This dream can only be realised with a fresh start.
The unity of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, and all Sri Lankans is the bedrock of this new beginning. The new renaissance we seek will rise from this shared strength and vision. Let us join hands and shape this future together.”
A record 38 contenders vied for Sri Lanka’s Presidency. For the first time in the country’s history, election officials counted second-preference votes after no candidate secured 50% of the votes.
Dissanayake came first in the Colombo, Matale, Matara, Galle, Monaragala, Hambantota, Kurunegala, Kegalle, Kalutara, Mahanuwara, Ratnapura, Gampaha, Puttalam, Anuradhapura, and Polonnaruwa Electoral Districts, while Premadasa came first in the Nuwara Eliya, Jaffna, Digamadulla, Badulla, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, and Vanni Electoral Districts.
Premadasa received 4,530,902 votes including preferential votes, Wickremesinghe received 2,299,767 votes, Namal Rajapaksa received 342,781 votes, Ariyanethiran Pakkiyaselvam received 226,343 votes, Dilith Jayaweera received 122,396 votes, K.K. Piyadasa received 47,543 votes, Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Bandaranayake received 30,660 votes, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka received 22,407 votes, President’s Counsel Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe received 21,306 votes, Anuruddha Polgampala received 15,411 votes, Sarath Keerthirathna received 15,187 votes, K.R. Krishan received 13,595 votes, Agampodi Prasanga Suranjeewa Anoj De Silva received 12,898 votes, Priyantha Wickramasinghe received 12,760 votes, Namal Rajapaksha received 12,700 votes, Ven. Akmeemana Dayarathana Thera received 11,536 votes, Nuwan Bopage received 11,191 votes, Ajantha De Zoysa received 10,548 votes, Victor Perera received 10,374 votes, Siripala Amarasinghe received 9,035 votes, Siritunga Jayasooriya received 8,954 votes, Ven. Baththaramulle Seelarathana Thera received 6,839 votes, Abubakar Mohamed Infas received 6,531 votes, Pemasiri Manage received 5,822 votes, Mahinda Dewage received 5,338 votes, Keerthie Wickramaratne received 4,676 votes, Pani Wijesiriwardena received 4,410 votes, Oshala Herath received 4,253 votes, Anuruddha Roshan Ranasinghe received 4,205 votes, Sarath Bandaranayake received 4,070 votes, K.A. Kularatna received 4,013 votes, Lalith de Silva received 3,004 votes, Pallimulla Kapugamage Anura Sidney Jayarathna received 2,799 votes, Janaka Ratnayake received 2,405 votes, Mylvaganam Thilakarajah received 2,138 votes, Sarath Manamendra received 1,911 votes, and A.S.P. Liyanage received 1,860 votes.
Courtesy:The Morning