Traditionally, Tamils have voted for Tamil parties which are active in northern Sri Lanka, but Thanabalasingam says their vote is now split among many factions which claim to represent the minority's concerns.

As Sri Lanka heads to its first elections since the massive protests of 2022 and the crippling economic crisis that has brought it to its knees, here is how the field is placed — and why India is watching the race closely.

Scarred by a decades-long civil war and struggling to survive in Sri Lanka's crippled economy, ethnic minority Tamils in the island nation say they have little hope that Saturday's presidential election will improve their lot by much.

Sri Lankans who usually vote along religious and ethnic lines will be keeping another factor in mind when they vote Saturday on a new president

Sri Lanka's election this coming Saturday has raised doubts over when its long-awaited debt deal with bondholders will be finalised, if it keeps up with its IMF programme targets and even whether it results in a president inclined to change both.

Sri Lankans go to the polls this weekend for the country’s first election since defaulting on piles of sovereign debt in 2022, when the nation plunged into its worst economic crisis across 70 years of independence.