ISTANBUL 

Police imposed a nationwide curfew in Sri Lanka on Saturday after voting ended in the South Asian country's presidential election, with millions going to the polls through the day.

The curfew has been imposed in "view of the safety of the public," police said after election was held in a peaceful manner, Colombo-based website Newswire reported.

People have been asked to stay home until 6 a.m. (0030GMT) Sunday as results of the presidential elections are expected in the coming hours.

Polls began at 7:00 a.m. local time (0130GMT) and continued until 4:00 p.m. (1030GMT) at 13,421 stations across the island nation.

More than 17 million voters were eligible to cast ballots to elect a president for a five-year term.

It is the first presidential election since Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in 2022, leading to the ouster of the government, including the serving president.

Among nearly 40 candidates included incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, Marxist-leaning parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Namal Rajapaksa, the heir apparent to the once-powerful Rajapaksa clan.

The election is seen as a referendum on Wickremesinghe’s two years in office, which has seen a slight recovery in the country’s economy since the 2022 financial crisis.