Scion of Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa family to contest Sept. presidential poll

FILE PHOTO: Sri Lanka's newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his son Namal Rajapaksa (3rd L bottom) look on before they leave the parliament in Colombo, Sri Lanka November 19, 2018. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Namal Rajapaksa, the son of Sri Lanka's former president, will run in the Sept. 21 presidential election, he said on Wednesday, taking on the incumbent, Ranil Wickremesinghe, whom many analysts see as the frontrunner.

Elected by parliament in July 2022, Wickremesinghe has shepherded the Indian Ocean nation through its worst financial crisis in decades, which triggered widespread protests that had forced his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to resign.