Colombo, 21 September 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Voting in Sri Lanka's first presidential election since a major economic crisis kicked off on Saturday morning, officials said.

More than 17 million eligible voters will be able to cast their votes across 13,421 polling booths between 7 am (0130 GMT) and 4 pm.

Sri Lanka, an island state of some 22 million people, last held elections in November 2019, when it elected Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president.

Rajapaksa was forced to flee the country and resign in July 2022 after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in protest, angered by the country's economic collapse.

Incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe was then elected through parliament to succeed Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe, who has spearheaded the revival of the economy since the 2022 crisis, is one of the three main contenders among 38 candidates running for the top post.

The other two are the current parliamentary opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa, and Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party's Anura Kumara.

All three frontrunners have vowed to improve the economy after the country ran into an unprecedented economic crisis resulting in shortages of fuel, gas, medicine and food, leading to social unrest and protests.

In 2023, the country was rescued by the International Monetary Fund, which approved some $3 billion to support Colombo's policies and reforms to address the crisis.

The first results are expected in the early hours of Sunday and the final results later that day.

Photo: EPA