The first left-wing president in its history assumes presidential duties Sri LankaAnura Kumara Dissanayaka, having pledged to “do his best” to revive the country, two years after the economic crisis led to a brutal austerity policy.
Wearing a white shirt and smiling, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka was sworn in before Chief Justice Jayada Jayasuriya.
“I will do my best to restore people’s trust in the political class,” the farmer’s 55-year-old son said during a brief speech.
“I’m not a magician, I need everyone’s support”
“I’m not a magician, I’m not a magician. There are things I know, others I don’t know, but I will ask for advice from others,” he said, adding: “That’s why I need everyone’s support.”
Score of 42.3%
According to the results released by the election commission, ADK, as Anura Kumara Dissanayaka is called by her followers, won 42.3% of the votes.
Sri Lankan opposition leader Sajith Premadasa got 32.7% and outgoing president Ranil Wickremesinghe got 17.2%.
The leader of the People’s Liberation Front (JVP), which organised two deadly uprisings in the 1970s and 1980s, Anura Kumara Deosanayaka has since renounced armed struggle.
The 55-year-old attracted widespread popular support by denouncing, throughout his electoral campaign, the “corrupt” elites that he says are responsible for the 2022 bankruptcy.
Renegotiation with the IMF
Even before his victory was announced, he reaffirmed his promise to renegotiate the agreement signed in 2023 by Sri Lanka with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for 2.9 billion dollars (2.6 billion euros) in aid. “It is a binding text, but it contains a renegotiation clause,” a party official, Bimal Ratnayake, told AFP.
The new president has promised to cut taxes on basic necessities, which burden the population and fuel their frustration and anger. He is taking the reins of a country whose economy is still very fragile.
“For Dissanayake, who has promised a new era that will ensure security and promote change, expectations will be high,” warned Farwa Aamer of the Asia Society think tank.
Sri Lanka experienced the worst economic crisis in its history in 2022. It accelerated the downfall of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was expelled from the presidential palace by protesters outraged by inflation and shortages.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, elected shortly afterwards by parliament, pursued a policy of tax increases and cuts in public subsidies in exchange for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
He ran for a second term to continue his policies, which, however, have burdened much of the island’s 22 million inhabitants.
“History will judge my efforts, but I can say with confidence that I did the best I could to stabilize the country in one of its darkest moments,” he said yesterday, Sunday night, accepting his defeat.
“Congratulations (to the president-elect), all my best wishes, I wish him the best and all my support for the success of his mission,” reacted Sajit Premadasa, who came in second place.
Shortly before the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena tendered his resignation, paving the way for Dissanayaka to appoint a new government.
The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for next year. The new president’s JVP party has just three seats in the 220-member parliament.
With information from APE-MPE, AFP, Reuters