Colombo (AFP) - Cash-strapped Sri Lanka votes for its next president Saturday in an effective referendum on an unpopular International Monetary Fund austerity plan enacted after the island nation’s unprecedented financial crisis.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is fighting an uphill battle for a fresh mandate to continue belt-tightening measures that stabilised the economy and ended months of food, fuel and medicine shortages.

His two years in office restored calm to the streets after civil unrest spurred by the downturn in 2022 saw thousands storm the compound of his predecessor, who promptly fled the country.

“We must continue with reforms to end bankruptcy,” Wickremesinghe, 75, said at his final rally in Colombo this week.

“Decide if you want to go back to the period of terror, or progress.”

But Wickremesinghe’s tax hikes and other measures, imposed per the terms of a $2.9-billion IMF bailout, have left millions struggling to make ends meet.

He is tipped to lose to one of two formidable challengers including Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, the leader of a once-marginal Marxist party tarnished by its violent past.

Sri Lanka’s crisis has proven an opportunity for the 55-year-old Dissanayaka, who has seen a surge of support based on his pledge to change the island’s “corrupt” political culture.

Fellow opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, the son of a former president assassinated in 1993 during the country’s decades-long civil war, is also expected to make a strong showing.

“There is a significant number of voters trying to send a strong message… that they are very disappointed with the way this country has been governed,” Murtaza Jafferjee of think tank Advocata told AFP.

- ‘Not out of the woods’ -

More than 17 million people are eligible to vote in the election.

Polls open at 7:00 am (0130 GMT) with counting to begin on Saturday evening.

A result is expected on Sunday, but an official outcome could be delayed if the contest is close.

Schools were closed on Friday to be converted to polling stations, which will be staffed by more than 200,000 public servants deployed to conduct the vote.

Economic issues dominated the eight-week campaign, with public anger widespread over the hardships endured since the peak of the crisis two years ago.

Official data showed that Sri Lanka’s poverty rate doubled to 25 percent between 2021 and 2022, adding more than 2.5 million people to those already living on less than $3.65 a day.

Experts warn that Sri Lanka’s economy is still vulnerable, with payments on the island’s $46-billion foreign debt yet to resume since a 2022 government default.

The IMF said reforms enacted by Wickremesinghe’s government were beginning to pay off, with growth slowly returning.

“A lot of progress has been made,” the IMF’s Julie Kozack told reporters in Washington last week.

“But the country is not out of the woods yet,”