Sri Lankan Election: Premadasa Stands Out Among Top Presidential Candidates

Sajith Premadasa, the leader of Sri Lanka’s main opposition party, is a frontrunner in Saturday’s presidential election. A win would see him assume the presidency more than 30 years after his father, Ranasinghe Premadasa, was assassinated while holding the same office.

Premadasa, 57, studied at the London School of Economics and entered politics following his father’s tragic death in a suicide bombing during a May Day rally in 1993. His political career began with his election to parliament in 2000, and he served as Sri Lanka’s deputy health minister. In 2018, he was appointed minister of housing construction and cultural affairs.

Previous Presidential Run and Political Platform

Premadasa made his first run for the presidency in 2019, securing 42% of the votes and finishing second behind Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa fled the country in 2022 and later resigned amid widespread protests triggered by an economic meltdown.

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Premadasa supports a blend of interventionist and free-market economic policies. He currently leads the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party, which broke away from President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) in 2020. In the general elections that followed in August 2020, the SJB won 54 seats, becoming the main opposition to Rajapaksa’s party, which secured an overwhelming majority in the 225-seat parliament.

Policy Proposals and Manifesto

Premadasa’s centrist, Left-leaning party has called for changes to the $2.9 billion bailout program with the International Monetary Fund. His manifesto outlines plans to adjust various targets, including changing taxes to reduce the cost of living.

“His policy outlines a comprehensive range of reforms and empowerment initiatives across various sectors,” said a report by The Oslo Institute of Political Research and Advocacy. “Notably, this policy statement is distinguished by its detailed presentation of facts and figures, enhancing its credibility compared to other policy statements.”

Election Dynamics and Current Standing

Among the 38 candidates for the presidency, Premadasa, along with Wickremesinghe and Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake, are considered the top contenders. The Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey by the Institute for Health Policy (IHP) shows Premadasa coming in second with 32% in voting preferences, trailing Dissanayake at 36%, and followed by Wickremesinghe in third with 28%.

Support Base and Final Campaign Remarks

Premadasa enjoys popularity among the island’s Tamil and Muslim minorities, who have felt marginalized under previous governments that drew support from the majority Sinhala Buddhists.

On the final day of campaigning this week, Premadasa criticized the current administration, stating, “Ranil shrunk the economy, and people are suffering without even four square meals. Some have lost their livelihoods, and there’s no one to represent them. We will build a new, clean government of the people and restore the dignity of all Sri Lankans.”

(Icludes inputs from online sources.)

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