For the first time since the national bankruptcy and mass protests two years ago, a new president was elected in Sri Lanka. The winner, the left-wing oppositionist Dissanayake, promises economic reforms.
In Sri Lanka, the leader of the left-wing coalition “National People's Power” (NPP), Anura Dissanayake, was officially sworn in after his victory in the presidential election.
According to the Election Commission, the 55-year-old won the vote with 42.3 percent and a lead of more than a million votes over the leader of the opposition in parliament, Sajith Premadasa. Interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has been in office for two years, came a distant third.
Dissanayake said at his inauguration that he was aware of the difficult task that lay before him. “I will do everything I can to meet people's expectations.” He had previously written on the short message service X: “This victory belongs to all of us. Together we will write Sri Lanka's history.” Interim President Wickremesinghe admitted his defeat and congratulated his successor.
Economic reforms planned
The election was a de facto vote on the strict austerity measures imposed on the South Asian island nation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in return for aid. Dissanayake will not cancel the deal with the IMF, but will renegotiate it, a spokesman for him told the AFP news agency.
Dissanayake wants to reduce income tax and VAT on food and medicine. His Marxist party led two failed uprisings in the 1970s and 1980s in which more than 80,000 people died. In the most recent parliamentary election in 2020, she received less than four percent of the vote.
Observers saw Dissanayake's victory as a sign that the people are tired of the old political guard. The previous government is accused of having pushed Sri Lanka to the brink of economic ruin. Dissanayake's advocacy for the working class and his election campaign tirades against the political elite, however, made him particularly popular among young people.
First choice since economic crisis
The presidential election was the first in Sri Lanka since mass protests at the height of the financial and economic crisis two years ago. The then head of state Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country after thousands of people stormed his official residence.
Under his successor Wickremesinghe, the situation in the country stabilized. However, tax increases and other measures imposed under the IMF rescue package continue to burden the population. For fear of unrest, thousands of police officers were deployed to protect the polling stations, and a nighttime curfew was in place after the polling stations closed. According to authorities, there were no acts of violence before or after the election. However, as a precautionary measure, victory celebrations are only permitted one week after the final result is announced.
