evidence: Record 39 candidates to take part in upcoming presidential elections. Electoral commission 15 Aug accepted largest-ever number of candidates, with 39 nominations, for 21 Sept presidential election, though the race is widely seen as a three-way battle between president Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya party and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the leftist National People’s Power (NPP) coalition. Both Premadasa and Dissanayake pledging to fight corruption and renegotiate bailout deal with International Monetary Fund (IMF) to better protect lower-income voters from economic austerity measures. In a blow to Wickremesinghe, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), expected to back the president, 7 Aug announced its candidate would be Namal Rajapaksa, 38-year-old son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and nephew of ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa; move is seen as a bid by prominent Rajapaksa family, ousted from power in July 2022, to maintain political control of the SLPP, most of whose party legislators are backing Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe’s reputation took a blow after 22 Aug Supreme Court ruling found him guilty of "arbitrary and unlawful" conduct in postponing local elections, initially due in March 2023, ordering govt to hold polls as soon as possible after the presidential vote.