Category: Breaking News

The Indian High Commissioner, Santos Jha, met with President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the National People’s Power office in Battaramulla this evening.

Jha extended greetings from India’s leadership and congratulated Dissanayake on his electoral victory, emphasizing India’s commitment to strengthening ties for the prosperity of both nations, the High Commissioner stated in a post on ‘X’.

This meeting followed Dissanayake’s announcement as president by the Election Commission chairman.

The Air Force has beefed up security at the Katunayake airport since yesterday (21) evening.

It is a grim reminder of how it acted to prevent civilians from gathering near the airport to stop politicians from fleeing the country during ‘Aragalaya’.

However, several politicians have already left the country.

They include former minister Susantha Punchinilame, who departed for Chennai on board Air India flight AI-272 at 2.25 pm yesterday.

UNP’s former general secretary Palitha Range Bandara boarded Bangkok-bound FD-141 of Thai Air Asia at 11.15 pm.

Ittekande Saddatissa Thera left in Cathey-Pacific’s CX-610 flight at 12.50 am today for Hong Kong.

SLPP presidential candidate Namal Rajapaksa’s wife Limini Winoja Weerasinghe and her father Thilakasiri Weerasinghe are due to depart for France tomorrow.

The Chairman of the Election Commission, R.M.A.L. Ratnayake officially announced the counting of second preference of the two leading candidates of the 2024 presidential election, in view of the prevailing situation of the vote results.

Mr. Ratnayake stated that accordingly, all the other candidates except for the National People’s Power (NPP) candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Samagi Jana Sandhanaya candidate Sajith Premadasa will be disqualified from the race.

The Election Commission Chairman announced this during a special media briefing, a short while ago.

Furthermore, he expressed that since no candidate has obtained the required percentage of votes at the first count, the preference for the two leading candidates Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa among the other ballot papers will be counted for a final decision.

Under Sri Lanka’s electoral rules, voters can rank second and third-choice candidates. If no candidate receives more than 50 per cent, those second-preference votes are added to the tally of the two leading candidates to determine a winner.

This will be the first presidential run-off in Sri Lanka’s election history.

Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles says that the islandwide curfew imposed until 6.00 a.m. this morning has been extended until 12 noon today (September 22).

Curfew had initially been imposed with effect from 10.00 p.m. last (21) until 06.00 a.m. tomorrow (22).

This decision has been taken by the incumbent President Ranil Wickramasinghe under the provisions of the Public Security Ordinance, in view of the releasing of the results of 2024 presidential election tonight.

However, the Police Media Division had stated that although the post-election situation in the country is very peaceful, this curfew was imposed for further safety of the public. Furthermore, Sri Lanka Police urged the general public to stay in their houses during the curfew period.

Meanwhile, the officials engaged in election related duties during the curfew period are allowed to use their ID cards or authorized documents as curfew permits, police said issuing a special notice.

Furthermore, persons traveling to or from the airport for the purpose of traveling overseas or arriving the island from a foreign country, will be allowed to use their air tickets as curfew permits.

In addition, the employees of the institutions that run essential services are permitted to use their official ID card or a suitable document while arrangements should be made to submit the required documents to confirm the identity of the relevant person to the police.

Sri Lanka Police later announced that police stations will not be issuing curfew passes for travel during the curfew period. Issuing a release, the Police Media Division said that essential workers and emergency services personnel can use their official identity cards as a curfew pass.

SJB MP Dr. Harsha De Silva said they campaigned hard for SJB presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa but it is now clear NPP presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake will be the new President.

He said in a messege posted on X that “We campaigned hard for Sajith Premadasa but it was not to be. It is now clear Anura Kumara Dissanayake will be the new President of Sri Lanka.In the spirit of democracy and goodwill, I called and wished my friend the best in the arduous road ahead,” he said.

The voter turnout percentages for the 2024 Presidential Election have been released as polling closed at 4:00 p.m. today.

Several districts recorded significant voter participation.

Notable turnouts include Nuwara-Eliya and Gampaha with 80% each, followed by Polonnaruwa, Kandy, and Hambantota at 78%. Monaragala, Kalutara, Ratnapura, and several others reported turnout around 75%. Meanwhile, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu recorded the lowest turnout at 68%.

Breakdown of the voter turnout by district:

– Gampaha – 80%
– Colombo – 75%
– Batticaloa – 69%
– Jaffna – 65%
– Kurunegala – 75%
– Mullaitivu – 68%
– Kandy – 78%
– Kalutara – 75%
– Galle – 74%
– Vavuniya – 72%
– Mannar – 72%
– Trincomalee – 76%
– Matale – 74%
– Nuwara-Eliya – 80%
– Monaragala – 77%
– Polonnaruwa – 78%
– Ratnapura – 75%
– Ampara – 70%
– Kilinochchi – 72%
– Puttalam – 75%
– Badulla – 73%
– Hambantota – 78%
– Kegalle – 75%
– Anuradhapura – 75%