[16][17] Ranil Wickremesinghe was first appointed as prime minister and later became the acting president following Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation.

In a parliamentary vote on 20 July 2022, Wickremesinghe was elected as the 9th President of Sri Lanka, tasked with completing the remainder of Rajapaksa's term.

Every proclamation dissolving parliament must be published in The Sri Lanka Gazette and must specify the nomination period and the date of the election.

[61][62] YouTuber Ashen Senarathna announced his candidacy for the Sri Lankan Parliament, seeking to represent the Colombo electoral district as part of an independent group.

On 11 October 2024, the Election Commission rejected his nomination, citing that it was submitted by an unauthorised individual, which led to disqualification.

Senarathna plans to take legal action, claiming he was asked to wait outside while another candidate submitted the nomination.

[63] Actress Damitha Abeyratne was expected to contest the general elections from the Ratnapura electoral district under the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) ticket.

Hesha Withanage, the SJB leader for Ratnapura, stated that the decision to exclude her name was made by district members.

[64] On 12 October 2024, former MP Ajith Mannapperuma withdrew from the parliamentary elections and resigned from Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), a day after submitting his nomination for the Gampaha electoral district.

[29] President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's National People's Power alliance won 159 of the 225 seats, securing a two-thirds majority in the Parliament.

This surge in the NPP's seat count from three in the previous Parliament marks a shift in Sri Lankan politics.

[67][68][69] In the north and east, a decrease in support amongst Tamil and Muslim voters for traditional ethnic parties were given to be the reason for the NPP's success.

[67][70] The main opposition alliance, Sajith Premadasa's Samagi Jana Balawegaya, won 40 seats, a decrease from the previous election.

[73] Having secured over a two-thirds majority in Parliament, the NPP now has the power to amend the Constitution of Sri Lanka, having made various promises to do so during the campaign.