Polls will soon close in Sri Lanka in the first presidential election since the country was in the grip of a potential political and economic crisis two years ago. Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe hopes his performance bring the country back from the brink of bankruptcy is enough to sway voters, but many want a fresh start.
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00:00I'm here outside one of more than 13,000 polling stations across Sri Lanka.
00:08More than 17 million people are expected to vote in this pivotal presidential election.
00:14Now for a lot of young Sri Lankans who were either involved in or perhaps watched those
00:19mass protests back in 2022 at the peak of the economic crisis, this is the first election
00:26for president where they will get to have their say.
00:29It is pretty exciting, I mean people have been wanting to make a change.
00:33But not all young voters are on the same page.
00:36We want to continue the same government as usual.
00:39For the first time in Sri Lanka, there are three candidates who have emerged as front
00:44runners for president.
00:45Now if one of those three candidates doesn't get more than 50% of the vote, then the preferential
00:51voting system in this country might have to be used for the first time to declare a winner.