evidence: In Sri Lanka, political parties are getting ready for presidential elections scheduled for some time next year. Many of them have named their candidates; others are preparing to do so. The country is constitutionally mandated to hold presidential polls in 2024, and the president himself has hinted that he will go ahead with them. But the government is led by a deeply unpopular party associated with a once popular but now derided family, the Rajapaksas. It faces an uncertain situation and has yet to confirm when elections will be held, or if they will be held at all. Indeed, a section of the opposition has implied that they will not. [...] Uthpala Wijesuriya, a young political and history researcher, echoed these uncertainties and anxieties well. "It is not clear who the SLPP will nominate as its presidential candidate. It may be a Rajapaksa or even someone else. The UNP under Wickremesinghe has been content in enforcing short-term, cosmetic reforms at the cost of long-term policies," Wijesuriya said. "On the other hand, those once associated with the SLPP are taking their own routes and are contesting against it. Political kingmakers are busy trying to become political kings."