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39 candidates are approved for Sri Lanka's presidential election, the highest number ever

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39 candidates are approved for Sri Lanka's presidential election, the highest number ever
News

News

39 candidates are approved for Sri Lanka's presidential election, the highest number ever

2024-08-15 23:35 Last Updated At:23:40

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s elections commission on Thursday accepted applications from a record 39 candidates to run in next month’s presidential election, which will decide the course of the country's financial reforms to survive an unprecedented economic crisis.

The commission received 39 applications and all were accepted, its head, R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, announced. More than 17 million people are eligible to vote in the Sept. 21 election.

Thirty-five candidates contested the last presidential election in 2019.

The vote is seen as a referendum on difficult economic reforms initiated by current President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The reforms have improved key economic figures, but their effects have yet to reach many ordinary people.

Sri Lanka is in the middle of a critical debt restructuring and financial reform program under a bailout program by the International Monetary Fund.

Unsustainable debt, a severe balance of payments crisis, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government’s insistence on spending scarce foreign reserves to prop up the country's currency, the rupee, led to a severe shortage of foreign currency and essentials such as fuel, medicine, cooking gas and food in 2022.

The economic crisis and resultant shortages of essentials sparked riots, forcing then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and later resign. Parliament elected Wickremesinghe as president to cover Rajapaksa’s remaining time.

Wickremesinghe is contesting the election and is seeking approval for his economic agenda, promising rapid growth with an ambitious target of making Sri Lanka a developed nation by the centenary of its independence in 2048.

Inflation has dropped to around 5% from 70% two years ago under his administration. Interest rates have also come down, the rupee has rebounded, and foreign currency reserves have increased. Creditor countries such as India, Japan and France have agreed to defer debt repayments until 2028, giving the island nation space to rebuild its economy.

The government is still negotiating with private creditors.

But professionals and businesses complain of higher taxes, and all people are affected by the high cost of living. Some critics accuse Wickremesinghe of protecting allegedly corrupt members of the previous administration in return for their support for his reforms in Parliament.

Wickremesinghe said that in the last two years, he took measures to stabilise the economy and as a result, “now there are no queues for fuel , food and medicine. People have money in their hands. But we need to move forward in further stabilising the economy. We just started the work and we can't stop. Vote for me to move forward,” he told supporters after handing over his nomination.

Wickremesinghe’s main rivals include opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Anura Dissanayake, the leader of a leftist political party that has gained popularity among people who blame traditional parties for the economic debacle.

He unsuccessfully contested presidential elections in 1999 and 2005, while Premadasa and Dissanayake lost the 2019 presidential election.

Another prominent candidate is Namal Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the nephew of ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

His candidacy will indicate how much support the former powerful Rajapaksa dynasty retains after its fall from grace with the economic crisis.

The Rajapaksa family has been prominent in Sri Lankan politics since the country became a democracy after gaining independence from Britain in 1948. Mahinda Rajapaksa's leadership in ending a 26-year civil war during his 2005-2015 presidency took his family to the peak of its popularity.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of opposition political party National People's Power waves to media as he arrives to file nomination for the upcoming presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of opposition political party National People's Power waves to media as he arrives to file nomination for the upcoming presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka's opposition leader Sajith Premadasa waves to media as he arrives to file nomination for the upcoming presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka's opposition leader Sajith Premadasa waves to media as he arrives to file nomination for the upcoming presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Namal Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa waves to media as he arrives to file nomination for the upcoming presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Namal Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa waves to media as he arrives to file nomination for the upcoming presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe waves to media as he arrives to file nomination for the upcoming presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe waves to media as he arrives to file nomination for the upcoming presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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Japan's exports hit record high, but trade deficit continues

2025-01-23 13:16 Last Updated At:13:21

TOKYO (AP) — Japan saw record-high exports last year, as its annual trade deficit declined 44% from the previous year, the Finance Ministry reported Thursday.

The trade deficit, which measures the value of exports minus imports, totaled 5.3 trillion yen ($34 billion), according to government data, as imports ballooned on the back of rising energy costs and growing inflation around the world.

Exports from the world’s third-largest economy totaled 107.9 trillion yen ($691 billion), surpassing the 100 trillion yen mark for the second-straight year, and the biggest value on record for comparable data, which dates back to 1979, the ministry said.

Some companies may have sped up their exports in anticipation of potential tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump has said he expects to put 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Feb. 1. During his campaign, he threatened to impose tariffs on imports from China, although details on that remain unclear.

For the month of December, exports gained a greater-than-expected 2.8% on-year, while imports rose 1.8%. Exports grew to Asian and European nations, while dipping slightly to the U.S.

Imports grew most from India, Hong Kong and Iran.

Demand was especially strong for Japan's vehicles, semiconductors and other machinery.

The weakening yen, another recent trend, has the effect of inflating the value of imports. The U.S. dollar has been hovering at 150-yen levels, sometimes surpassing 160 yen, over the past year, while a year ago it was often at 140-yen levels.

Japan has recorded a trade deficit for four straight years, but last year's deficit was considerably smaller than the 9.5 trillion yen deficit for 2023.

FILE - Cars for export are parked at a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on July 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

FILE - Cars for export are parked at a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on July 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

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