A previously fringe Marxist politician was on course Sunday to become Sri Lanka’s next leader after a presidential vote coloured by discontent over the island nation’s response to an unprecedented financial crisis.

The ongoing count in Saturday’s poll showed Anura Kumara Dissanayaka on just over 40 percent with about half of all votes counted. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was in second, with 33 percent of the vote.

Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe — who took office at the peak of the 2022 economic collapse and imposed tough austerity policies per the terms of an IMF bailout — was trailing in a distant third with around 17 percent of the vote.

Wickremesinghe has yet to concede, and an official result was not expected until later Sunday, but foreign minister Ali Sabry said the early count made it clear that Dissanayaka had won.

“Though I heavily campaigned for President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the people of Sri Lanka have made their decision, and I fully respect their mandate for Anura Kumara Dissanayaka,” Sabry said on social media.