The next president of Sri Lanka is leaning towards the left.
After taking the oath of office, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the new president of Sri Lanka. Has pledged to lead the country through its economic recovery from its greatest crisis with “clean” politics.
Dissanayake, who leans to the left, has positioned himself as an opponent of the current system. And many interpret his triumph as a rejection of the cronyism and corruption that have afflicted the nation for so long.
The previous election was held on Saturday, which was the first since Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted from office in 2022 due to widespread protests sparked by economic discontent.
“We need to establish a new clean political culture,” declared the president. “I swear I will do this. In order to regain the public’s faith in government, we shall do everything in our power.
“Democracy doesn’t end with voting in a leader,” the 55-year-old, better known as AKD, told Sri Lankans.
Democracy must be fortified. He vowed to “do my utmost” to protect democracy.
Just like I’ve already mentioned, I’m not a magician; I’m just a regular guy. I am aware of some things and am unaware of others. If I can bring together those who have the expertise to assist this nation rise, I will have accomplished my goal.
At the conclusion of his address, Dissanayake was blessed by a Buddhist. The presence of representatives from Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity during the oath-taking ceremony further underscores the new president’s commitment to diversity in Sri Lanka.
Dissanayake addressed the “unity of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and all Sri Lankans is the bedrock of this new beginning” in a statement released on the eve of the ceremony.
Good governance and strict anti-corruption measures were campaign promises of Dissanayake.
He has pledged to improve Sri Lanka’s agricultural, manufacturing, and information technology industries. He has also promised to keep the agreement with the IMF going, which will help Sri Lanka weather the economic storm and lessen the blow to the poorest citizens from the austerity measures imposed by the fund.
The dissolution of parliament in Sri Lanka was made possible by the resignation of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena prior to Dissanayake’s oath of office.
Dissanayake hinted in a previous interview with BBC Sinhala that he will dissolve parliament immediately upon taking office.
“There is no point continuing with a parliament that is not in line with what the people want,” he stated back then.
Since no contender received more than 50% of the vote in the first round, the counting continued into Sunday’s second round, when Dissanayake emerged victorious.
The Election Commission announced that Dissanayake had received 5,740,179 votes, including those cast as second and third choices for president.
With 4,530,902 votes, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was a close second. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the outgoing president, received 2,299,767 votes in the first round but did not advance to the second.
I take over the future of this beautiful nation to the incoming president with much love and respect,” Wickremesinghe said.
Winners were announced during the first round of counting in each of Sri Lanka’s eight presidential elections from 1982. Until this past weekend’s vote. Many have said that this election was among the most closely contested in the nation’s history.
Voters who have been demanding systemic change since the crisis found Dissanayake’s anti-corruption program to be quite appealing.
Because of this, he was able to get over his fears about the JVP, his political party. Which had a history of violence and had been involved in two armed uprisings against the Sri Lankan government.
The JVP and Dissanayake’s National People’s Power alliance gained notoriety during the Aragalaya protests (Sinhala for battle) in 2022.
In recent years, Dissanayake has also worked to soften his party’s extreme leftward position.
The newly inaugurated president will have his hands full trying to revive the economy while also rescuing millions of people from abject poverty.
In 2022, Rajapaksa was deposed from office in an Aragalaya revolt that was fueled by an economic collapse.
By that point, Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserves had run dry, and the nation could no longer purchase necessities like gasoline. Inflation reached 70% and the national debt reached $83 billion.
Because of this, regular people could no longer afford necessities like food and medicine.
Some have pointed fingers at years of under-taxation, poor exports, and big policy mistakes for the country’s economic woes. The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, which severely curbed tourism—a vital engine of economic growth—only made matters worse.
Nonetheless, Rajapaksa and his family governed Sri Lanka for over a decade, and many people have pointed fingers at corruption and poor administration as reasons for their ouster.
Dr. Athulasiri Samarakoon, a political scientist from the Open University of Sri Lanka, told the BBC Sinhala Service, “The most serious challenge is how to restore this economy.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided Wickremesinghe with a $2.9 billion lifeline throughout his term. This lifeline is essential for accessing additional finance channels, but it comes with rigorous policy reforms regarding economics and governance.
Per the International Monetary Fund’s directive, Sri Lanka is renegotiating the conditions of its debt repayments with both international and domestic creditors. China, the country’s biggest bilateral creditor, is due $7 billion out of the $36 billion in foreign debt that the country has incurred.
Xi Jinping, president of China, has thanked Dissanayake and expressed his desire to collaborate with Sri Lanka more extensively on his Belt and Road development project.
Premadasa, like Dissanayake, advocated for the growth of information technology and the creation of twenty-five new industrial zones. He advocated for measures to boost tourism. So that it overtakes oil and gas as the primary source of revenue for the country.
During his campaign, Wickremesinghe pledged to set up a national wealth fund. Create new economic zones, and treble the number of tourists visiting the country.
