The election comes at a decisive time for Sri Lankans, as the island nation is struggling to emerge from its worst economic crisis.
The party of Sri Lanka's new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won a two-thirds majority in the country's parliamentary election.
Mr Dissanayake was elected president on September 21 in a rejection of traditional political parties that have governed the island nation since its independence from British rule in 1948. Colombo-based political analyst Veeragathy Thanabalasingham said northern voters chose the NPP because they could not find a local alternative to traditional Tamil political parties, with which they were disillusioned.
The country is now in the middle of a bailout program with the International Monetary Fund, with debt restructuring with international creditors nearly complete.Two years since thousands of protesters swarmed the presidential palace in Sri Lanka, voters are heading to the polls, where three presidential candidates have emerged as frontrunners for the first time.
The economy was stabilised, inflation dropped, the rupee strengthened and foreign reserves increased under Mr Wickremesinghe.
Election President Anura Kumara Dissanayake Marixist
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