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

By Libby George, Karin Strohecker and Uditha Jayasinghe LONDON (Reuters) -Sri Lanka reached a draft deal with creditors to restructure $12.5 billion of international bonds, it said on Thursday, in a major boost to the island nation's fragile recovery just two days before its presidential election.

Below are short profiles of the five key candidates: A lawyer who has served as prime minister a record six times, Wickremesinghe's party holds only one seat in parliament and will need to drum up support from key parties to bolster his chances.