The victory of the 55-year-old leader of the Marxist-inspired party marks a break with the “dynasties” that had dominated local politics, in line with the demands of Aragayala, the movement that overthrew Rajapaksa. During the election campaign, he promised to review the austerity policy imposed by the International Monetary Fund, but also to reopen the investigation into the Easter attacks of 2019. Reactions from India and China to the result of the elections.
Colombo () – As predicted by polls, Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been elected Sri Lanka’s ninth president. A Marxist-inspired leader at the head of a left-wing coalition called National People’s Power, he won 5.74 million votes (42%), compared to 4.54 million (32%) for opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. The outgoing president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, appointed in 2022 to deal with the economic crisis following the flight of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, received less than 20% of the vote. With a turnout of close to 79%, for the first time in the country’s history a second recount of ballots was necessary after no candidate obtained at least 50% of the votes needed to be elected in the first round. Sri Lankan voters write down the names of three candidates in order of preference: if there is no majority, the second and possibly third choice of voters are taken into account.
Dissanayake, 55, has led the Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP or People’s Liberation Front) since 2008, a pro-Chinese Marxist-Leninist party that between the 1970s and 1980s, and especially after the signing of the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement in 1987began an armed struggle against the government for the creation of a Sinhala socialist state. After graduating in Physics, Dissanayake entered politics during those years, for which he apologized in 2014, gradually softening the party’s stance.
“We must create a new, clean political culture,” he said during the swearing-in ceremony, which took place today. “I have already said that I am not a magician, I am an ordinary citizen. There are things I know and things I don’t know. My main objective is to bring together those who have the knowledge and the skills to help lift the country up.” Dissanayake received a Buddhist blessing at the end of his speech, which was delivered solely in Sinhala. Representatives of the other religions present in Sri Lanka – Islam, Hinduism and Christianity – were also present at the swearing-in ceremony.
Dissanayake’s election is seen by pundits and commentators as a break with the “traditional” figures (and families) that have dominated Sri Lankan politics until now. The Rajapaksa family scion, who was among the 38 presidential candidates, received less than 3% of the vote. Mahendran Thiruvarangan, a professor at the University of Jaffna, He described it as “positive” election results: “The NPP is a political formation that represents some of the fundamental demands of Aragayala [el movimiento de protesta que provocó la dimisión del ex presidente Gotabaya Rajapaksa hace dos años]. His victory is a reason for optimism.
During the election campaign, Dissanayake had declared that in the event of victory he would dissolve Parliament (where the JVP currently has only three seats) to reflect the will of the people. He also promised that he would launch an investigation into the 2019 Easter attacks, hinting that if the Government has avoided doing so until now it is because it was afraid of revealing “its responsibilities.”
“It’s not just about this investigation,” he added. “Politicians who promised to crack down on corruption have engaged in corruption; those who promised to create a debt-free Sri Lanka have only worsened the debt burden; people who promised to strengthen the law have failed to deliver.”
Indeed, under President Ranil Wickremesinghe, inflation has fallen to 0.5% from over 70% in 2022, and is expected to rise slightly in 2024, although a quarter of the population (22 million people) still live in poverty and are heavily indebted. The outgoing president, congratulating Dissanayake on his victory, did not fail to note: “I have successfully discharged the responsibility that history has placed on my shoulders. I have managed to save my country from bankruptcy in the short space of two years,” he declared.
Dissanayake and other JVP members then promised to review the criteria imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which, in exchange for austerity policies, guaranteed a loan of some $3 billion. However, some economic experts expressed concern, fearing that a change of course in economic policies could hinder the path to recovery.
Top heads of government in the region were quick to congratulate Dissanayake: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the 10th that Sri Lanka “occupies a special place in India’s Neighbourhood First policy”, while Chinese President Xi Jinping said: stressed that he was willing to work together to promote the traditional friendship between the two countries, strengthen mutual political trust and cooperation on development projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.
In recent years, the geopolitical feud between India and China has often manifested itself in rival investments in Sri Lankan infrastructure. Just days before being elected, Dissanayake had declared that he would cancel the Adani Group wind energy project, an investment of more than 440 million for the construction of wind farms in the country that would sell the energy produced at 8.26 cents per kilowatt-hour to Sri Lankans. A project that has also been criticized for its environmental impact and its “lack of transparency”, which is currently being examined by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
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