Presidential race expands to 24 candidates

Two more Presidential hopefuls submitted their cash deposits at the Election Commission of Sri Lanka yesterday ahead of the 15 August deadline.

Accordingly, deposits were placed for two independent candidates, former United National Party (UNP) MPs Anura Sidney Jayarathne and D.M. Bandaranaike.

With the addition of Jayarathne and D.M. Bandaranaike, the number of Presidential hopefuls now stands at 24.

Candidates who pla-ced deposits earlier are President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Sarath Keerthirathne, Oshala Herath, A.S.P Liyanage, P.W.S.K Bandaranayake and K.K Piyadasa, Siritunga Jayasuriya, Ajantha de Zoysa, K. Ananda Kularatne, Sarath Manamendra, Akmeemana Dayaratna Thera, Battaramulle Seelaratne Thera and several others.

The ECSL said the candidates belong to 11 recognised political parties, and one other political party. 12 candidates have expressed intentions to contest as independent candidates.

Politicians who recently expressed their intention to contest including Sarvajana Balaya candidate Dilith Jayaweera, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna candidate Namal Rajapaksa and Tamil common candidate P. Ariyanethran are yet to submit their cash deposits. According to the ECSL, cash deposits will be accepted until 15 August.

Meanwhile, the ECSL announced yesterday that it has received a total of 157 election-related complaints since 31 July. 154 complaints are regarding violation of election laws while one incident of election violence was recorded, the Commission said.