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Anura Kumara Dissanayake wins presidential election in Sri Lanka

According to the news portal Newsfirst, Dissanayake was supported by 5,740,179 voters after second ballot count

NEW DELHI, September 22. /TASS/. The leader of the opposition alliance National People’s Power, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has won Sri Lanka’s presidential election, the Lankan news portal Newsfirst reported.

According to the news portal, Dissanayake was supported by 5,740,179 voters after second ballot count. His closest rival, Sajith Premadasa, leader of United People's Power, scored 4,530,902 votes.

The presidential election in Sri Lanka was held on September 21. The president is elected in a direct general vote for the term of five years. The country held previous direct presidential election in 2019. Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the vote but had to resign in July 2022 amid protests.

Sri Lanka has 17 million eligible voters. The voter turnout was around 70%.

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