Sri Lanka will hold its presidential elections on November 16 and the last date for the acceptance of nominations will start from October 7, announced the country's Election Commission on Wednesday. President Maithripala Sirisena’s term was scheduled to end on January 8 and as per the Constitutional provisions, the elections must be held a month before the end of term. Sirisena is eligible to run for a second term but he has not made his intentions clear regarding a possible re-run. The Election Commission said that nearly 15.9 million people are eligible to vote.

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Candidates for the elections

The ruling United National Party (UNP) has not declared its presidential candidate and is expected to announce it next week. UNP’s main opposition party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) announced former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as its presidential nominee. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. As per media reports, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is set to contest the presidential elections on National People's Power movement ticket.

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Sri Lankan crisis

Last year, Sri Lanka went through a constitutional crisis when the power equations kept shifting. Sirisena appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister but the Supreme Court declared the move unconstitutional. A no-confidence motion was moved against Rajapaksa which threw the country into deeper crisis. The apex court had also overturned Sirisena’s decision to dissolve the parliament and ordered a stay on the snap elections. 

Read: Sri Lanka Ends Emergency, Four Months After Easter Suicide Bombings

Sri Lanka is currently reeling under severe economic crisis, and it ended the emergency last month declared in the aftermath of easter suicide bombings. According to the officials, the easter suicide bombings claimed 258 lives. The attack has added to the woes of the economic and political crisis in the country. Even if Sirisena decides to contest the election, his candidature can suffer a setback as he has been accused of failing to act on Indian intelligence inputs regarding the attack. Indian intelligence had beforehand informed about jihadists’ intention to target churches and other public places.

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