Crisis-hit Sri Lanka's poor hope new president will change their fortunes
Voice of America
People sit next to torn election posters at a street in Dematagoda, Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 7, 2024. Lankika Dilrukshi, 31, along with her son is pictured inside her house in Thotalanga, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sept. 9, 2024. Nancy Hemalatha, 61, a fruit seller waits for customers at her shop in Thotalanga, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sept. 9, 2024.
Sri Lankan housewife Lankika Dilrukshi says she is tired of the daily struggle needed to provide for her children. On Saturday, she is voting in a presidential poll she sees as key to securing a better future for herself, and her nation.
A woman tea plantation worker plucks tea leaves at an estate in Badulla, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Tea plantation worker Adaraja Ali Rani leaves her living quarters to pluck tea tips in Spring Valley estate in Badulla, Sri Lanka, Sep. 10, 2024. Muthuthewarkittan Manohari, a tea plantation worker, right, bathes her younger daughter Madubhashini, as her elder daughter Shalani, center, stands at the doorway of their small house in Spring Valley Estate in Badulla, Sri Lanka, Sept. 9, 2024.
Jamaat-e-Islami-backed candidate Sayar Ahmed Reshi addresses an election campaign rally at Kulgam district in south Kashmir, Sept. 13, 2024. Relatives of incarcerated cleric Sarjan Barkati prepare to leave their rental accommodation as they were scheduled to address the public at the Beerwah area of Budgam district in central Kashmir, Sept. 11, 2024. Jammu and Kashmir National conference, or JKNC, candidate Tanvir Sadiq during election rally in Srinagar, Sept. 4, 2024. Peoples Democratic Party candidate Zuhaib Yousuf addressing the public gathering at Lal chowk during a rally, Srinagar, Sept. 10, 2024. Former separatist leader Syed Salim Geelani joined the mainstream political party Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP.