Scarred by a decades-long civil war and struggling to survive in Sri Lanka's crippled economy, ethnic minority Tamils in the island nation say they have little hope that Saturday's presidential election will improve their lot by much.

Sri Lankans will vote on Saturday for their next president, who will be key to deciding the future of reforms in a nation slowly emerging from worst financial crisis in decades. A critical shortfall in foreign exchange in 2022 pushed Sri Lanka's economy into the worst financial freefall in decades.

Samadhi Paramitha Brahmananayake is looking at the field where she spent months camped out with thousands of other demonstrators in Sri Lanka’s capital in 2022. She can’t quite believe that luscious green grass has replaced the hundreds of protester tents that filled the field opposite the presidential secretariat.