Sajith Premadasa, the leader of Sri Lanka's main opposition party, is a frontrunner in Saturday's presidential election and a win will hand him the top job more than 30 years after his father was assassinated while holding the same post.

Two years ago, tens of thousands of Sri Lankans rose up against their president and forced him to flee the country.

Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe did not scrap his re-election campaign days before the bankrupt nation voted in the first poll since its economic collapse, contrary to claims spread online.