Campaigning for the General Elections in Sri Lanka is scheduled to end at midnight tonight. A silent period will begin then, prohibiting any campaign activities until election day. Polling will be held on the 14th of November between 7 am and 4 pm at over 13,400 polling stations where the 17 million electorate will exercise their right to vote. About 75000 police personnel have been deployed for the election process across the island.

The elections are expected to set the tone for the country’s political future under the leadership of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Sri Lanka elected NPP candidate Dissanayake as the president in September this year. Days after assuming office, Mr Dissanayake dissolved the Parliament making way for snap elections. Over 8800 candidates are in the fray to be elected through 196 seats from 22 electoral districts and 29 national list seats. Among the 22 electoral districts, Gampaha has been assigned the most seats at 19 which is one more than the previous election, while 4 seats have been assigned to Trincomalee which is the least. 113 seats will be required for a majority in the Parliament.

Prominent candidates contesting the elections include Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya, opposition SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, former Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Vijitha Herath, Harsha De Silva, Eran Wickremaratne, Mano Ganesan.