Sri Lanka Leftist Candidate Takes Early Lead in Election Count.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a leftist politician in Sri Lanka, has taken an early lead in the presidential election. With 55.9% of the vote, Dissanayake is ahead of the incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. A candidate needs to win 50% of the vote to be declared the winner. Dissanayake's coalition has promised to fight corruption, scrutinize loan deals, and renegotiate a $3 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund. The election is the first since an economic crisis two years ago, and investors are concerned about possible delays in debt restructuring and the disbursement of funds from the IMF. [Extracted from the article]