Far from being enthusiastic about liberal democracy, the new president of Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who won 5,6 million votes or 42,3% on Sunday, is a Marxist. His success underlines voters’ trust of his war against corruption and his focus on the economy due to Sri Lanka’s rising fiscal woes. Dissanayake secured more votes to defeat both the incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe who got 17% votes and the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa who polled 32.8% votes.
This election was peculiar because it led to a second round of counting, the first time when no candidate scored more than fifty percent. Dissanayake is not from a political family, but heading the JVP party attracted much attention with pledges for welfare care and corruption prevention. While Gnanapathipillaya’s LSSP party only has four seats in the Sri Lankan Parliament, his campaign connected with those weary of the economic crisis that brought protests and former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.
Some of Dissanayake’s policies include reviewing Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring program, which was rolled out as part of the $2.9 billion IMF deal, and cutting taxes. Some investors are concerned about his economic plan but he has said in any change, it will be in consultation with the IMF. They requested him to win immediately because the win heralds a new political dawn in Sri Lanka because Dissanayake framed himself for change. In his address he has assured the Nation that he will dissolve the parliament in the next 45 days and contest the general elections to get mandate support for his polices.
(With inputs from Reuters)
