Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake elected as next Sri Lanka President

Sri Lanka on Sunday elected Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a Marxist-leaning candidate, as its new president. Dissanayake, 55, won with 5.6 million votes, accounting for 42.3% of the total, signaling strong public support for his commitment to combat corruption and support economic recovery following the country’s severe financial crisis.

This election marked a significant shift, as Dissanayake outperformed both incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. Wickremesinghe, who had been leading the nation through a fragile economic recovery since last year's meltdown, finished third with 17% of the votes. His austerity measures, essential for economic stability, appear to have hindered his re-election efforts.

Premadasa secured second place with 32.8% of the vote. Notably, this election was the first in Sri Lanka's history to require a second round of counting, as no candidate achieved the necessary 50% threshold for an outright victory.

Sri Lanka-based Daily Mirror reported that Dissanayake will take oaths as the new president at a simple ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday (September 23).

Dissanayake lacked the political lineage of some of his rivals, but his leftist policies to help the poor and stirring speeches made him a leading candidate in Sri Lanka's presidential election, Reuters reported ahead of the showdown. Although Dissanayake's Janatha Vimukthi Peremuna (JVP) party had just three seats in parliament, the 55-year-old candidate had been boosted by his promises of tough anti-corruption measures and bigger welfare schemes.
  
Dissanayake ran as a candidate for the National People's Power (NPP) alliance, which includes his Marxist-leaning JVP party that has traditionally backed stronger state intervention and more closed-market economic policies. He drew big crowds at rallies, calling on Sri Lankans to leave behind the suffering of a deep economic crisis that triggered widespread protests and forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country of 22 million people in 2022.

Dissanayake's JVP led two failed insurrections - in 1971 and 1988 - against elected governments that led to deaths of thousands as security forces crushed the rebellions. The party has since embraced mainstream politics and Dissanayake, who was not a leader at the time, has not commented on the insurrections in recent years.

His manifesto plans include reworking a debt restructuring programme at the core of the International Monetary Fund's $2.9 billion bailout and a pledge to slash taxes that would impact fiscal targets have raised worries among investors and market participants about his economic policies.

However, during campaign speeches he had taken a more conciliatory approach, saying any changes would be undertaken in consultation with the IMF and that he is committed to ensuring repayment of debt. He also presented himself in campaigning as the candidate of change, promising to dissolve parliament within about 45 days of coming to power and to seek a fresh mandate in the general elections for his policies.

"He has been in politics for a while and is not a newcomer. He is appealing to people looking for something different," said Bhavani Fonseka, senior researcher at Colombo's Centre for Policy Alternatives. "He is a newer face and he knows how to speak to people on what they are going through."

(With inputs from Reuters)