The economy remains a key issue after protesters angry over the financial crisis ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.
A record number of candidates will stand in Sri Lanka's presidential election next month as the country grapples with an unprecedented economic crisis.
The electoral commission on Thursday accepted 39 applications for the September 21 election, including that of incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe.
In the last vote in 2019, 35 candidates ran for president.
“We have to stabilise the economy,” Wickremesinghe told reporters after announcing his candidacy. “What we are saying is: ‘Let’s go ahead and finish this job.’ That is why I am asking for your support.”
The South Asian nation is in the midst of a critical debt restructuring and financial reform program under a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
With unsustainable debt, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and shortages of fuel, medicine and food in 2022, widespread protests led to the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Wickremesinghe, 75, was elected president in 2022 and has guided the country through the economic crisis with a series of reforms and an ambitious goal of turning the country into a developed nation by 2048.
The election is seen as a referendum on his economic reforms, which have not affected many people despite improving key economic figures.
Inflation has fallen to around 5 percent from 70 percent two years ago under Wickremesinghe. Interest rates have also come down, the rupee has recovered and foreign exchange reserves have risen.
Creditor countries such as India, Japan and France have agreed to defer debt payments until 2028, giving the island nation room to rebuild its economy.
But professionals and businesses complain that high taxes and the high cost of living affect everyone. Some critics accuse Wickremesinghe, a former prime minister, of protecting allegedly corrupt members of the previous administration in return for their support for his reforms in parliament.
Wickremesinghe faces a formidable challenge from career politician Sajith Premadasa, 57, the current opposition leader of Samagi Jana Balawegaya, and leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, 55, whose People's National Power (PNP) coalition is popular among youth.
Many of the other candidates running in the election are seen as representatives of key parties.
Premadasa pledged to fight corruption. “At present, 22 million people in our country are suffering from incompetence, ineptitude, large-scale corruption and looting of public treasury,” he said.
What began as a three-way battle became more complicated last week when the influential Rajapaksa family withdrew its support for Wickremesinghe in favour of Namal Rajapaksa, a 38-year-old member of parliament and son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Two monks are also running for president, one of them calling for the legalization of cannabis and the banning of birth control.
After announcing the candidates to contest on Thursday, Election Commission Chairman RMAL Rathnayake warned the candidates to ensure they follow the electoral rules.
“Do not influence public officials to engage in any illegal activity to help your campaigns,” Rathnayake said.
More than 17 million people are eligible to vote in September. The results are expected to be known one day after the vote and the winner will have to be sworn in within two weeks.
