Heavily indebted Sri Lanka votes in election to decide economic future
Wickremesinghe, Premadasa, Dissanayake are frontrunners, opinion poll says
More than 17 mln people eligible to vote in presidential election
First election since Sri Lanka's 2022 economic meltdown
Recasts paragraph 1 with vote starting, adds details in paragraphs 3-4, quote in paragraph 11, bullets
By Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly
COLOMBO, Sept 21 (Reuters) -Millions of Sri Lankans were casting their votes on Saturday to select a president who will face the task of bolstering the South Asian country's fragile economic recovery following its worst financial crisis in decades.
More than 17 million of Sri Lanka's 22 million people are eligible to vote in an election that has shaped up to be a close contest between President Ranil Wickremesinghe, main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist-leaning challenger Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who led in one recent opinion poll.
Citizens in the capital Colombo lined up early at polling booths, which were guarded by security personnel, as voting began at 7 a.m. (0130 GMT). It was proceeding peacefully across the island nation, according to local media.
Polls close at 4 p.m. (1030 GMT), with counting scheduled to start shortly afterward. The Election Commission is expected to announce the winner on Sunday.
Over 13,000 polling stations were set up across the country and 250,000 public officials deployed to manage the election, R.M.L. Rathnayake, the head of Sri Lanka's election commission, told Reuters.
This is the first election since Sri Lanka's economy buckled in 2022 under a severe foreign exchange shortage, leaving the Indian Ocean island nation unable to pay for imports of essentials including fuel, medicine and cooking gas.
Thousands of protesters marched in Colombo in 2022 and occupied the president's office and residence, forcing then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and later resign.
Buttressed by a $2.9 billion bailout programme from the International Monetary Fund, Sri Lanka's economy has posted a tentative recovery but the high cost of living remains a core issue for many voters.
Although inflation cooled to 0.5% last month from a crisis high of 70%, and the economy is forecast to grow in 2024 for the first time in three years, millions remain mired in poverty and debt, with many pinning hopes of a better future on their next leader.
Whoever wins the election will have to ensure Sri Lanka sticks with the IMF programme until 2027 to get its economy on a stable growth path, reassure markets, attract investors and help a quarter of its people climb out of crisis-caused poverty.
"Your decision at the polls today will shape the future of our nation, not just for the next five years, but for generations to come," Foreign Minister Ali Sabry posted on X in support of Wickremesinghe. "Use your vote wisely so Sri Lanka can continue its recovery and move forward towards a sustainable and prosperous future."
Sri Lanka's ranked voting system allows voters to cast three preferential votes for their chosen candidates.
If no candidate wins 50% in the first count, there is a second round between the two frontrunners, with the preferential votes of other candidates redistributed, an outcome analysts say is likely given the close nature of the election.
Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Alex Richardson and William Mallard
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