Mr. Wickremesinghe, 75, a six-time former prime minister, is a political survivor. His elevation to the presidency in 2022, after the overthrow of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, plucked him out of irrelevance and demonstrated his formidable bargaining powers.

By Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly COLOMBO (Reuters) -Millions of Sri Lankans were casting their votes on Saturday to select a president who will face the task of bolstering the South Asian country's fragile economic recovery following its worst financial crisis in decades.

Voting ends in Sri Lanka's presidential election as it seeks to recover from economic crisis and political upheaval