Sri Lanka’s new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has been sworn in, promising to “rewrite history” for a country recovering from severe economic hardship.
The left-leaning Dissanayake has positioned himself as a disruptor of the political landscape, and analysts see his victory as a repudiation of the corruption and nepotism that has long plagued the country.
Saturday’s election was the first since 2022, when economic discontent fueled mass protests and ousted former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa from power.
Dissanayake received congratulatory messages from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the US State Department.
In a statement the day before he was sworn in as president, the 55-year-old, also known as AKD, said “this victory belongs to all of us” and that Sri Lanka is “a new beginning”.
“Millions of eyes full of hope and expectation are driving us forward, and together, we are ready to rewrite the history of Sri Lanka,” he said.
During the campaign, Dissanayake promised voters good governance and strong anti-corruption measures.
He promised to develop Sri Lanka’s manufacturing, agriculture and IT sectors. He also pledged to continue the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to rescue Sri Lanka from the economic crisis while reducing the impact of its austerity measures on the country’s poorest.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena resigned before Dissanayake was sworn in, paving the way for the dissolution of parliament.
In an interview with BBC Sinhala, Dissanayake indicated that he will dissolve parliament soon after being elected.
“There is no need to continue with a parliament that is not in line with what the people want,” he said at the time.
Dissanayake won after the count went to the second round on Sunday, as no one won more than 50% of all votes in the first round.
When the votes for the second and third elections were counted, the Election Commission said that Dissanayake won with 5,740,179 votes.
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa came second with 4,530,902. Outgoing President Ranil Wickremesinghe received 2,299,767 during the first round of counting and was eliminated in the second round.
Wickremesinghe congratulated his successor, saying: “With great love and respect for this beloved nation, I hand over its future to the new president”.
Until this weekend’s vote, every presidential election in Sri Lanka since 1982 had seen a winner in the first round of counting. This study has been described as one of the closest in the history of the country.
Dissanayake’s anti-corruption platform resonated strongly with voters who have been clamoring for systemic change since the crisis.
This helped him overcome trepidation over the violent past of his political party, the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which invaded the Sri Lankan country armed in the 1970s and 80s.
Dissanayake’s coalition, the National People’s Power – of which the JVP is a part – rose to prominence during the 2022 protests, known as Aragalaya – Sinhala struggle.
Dissanayak has also sought to balance his party’s strong position in recent years.
The new president of the country will face the two tasks of reviving the economy and removing millions from poverty.
The economic downturn fueled the Aragalaya rebellion that ousted Rajapaksa from the presidency in 2022.
By then, Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange had dried up, leaving the country unable to purchase essential commodities such as fuel. Public debt rose to $83bn while inflation soared to 70%.
This makes basic things like food and medicine out of reach for common people.
The country’s economic woes have been blamed on major policy mistakes, weak imports and years of tax exemptions. This has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has suffocated tourism, which is the mainstay of the economy.
Many have also accused corruption and mismanagement, however, which has angered Rajapaksa and his family, who have jointly ruled Sri Lanka for more than 10 years.
“The biggest challenge is how to restore this economy,” Dr Athulasiri Samarakoon, a political scientist at the Open University of Sri Lanka, told the BBC Sinhala Service.
In his time Wickremesinghe received a $2.9bn bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is crucial in opening up more funding channels but comes with drastic economic and governance reforms.
Sri Lanka is restructuring its debt repayment terms with foreign and domestic creditors, as approved by the IMF. The focus has been on the country’s $36bn external debt, of which $7bn is owed to China, the two countries’ largest creditor.
Like Dissanayake, Premadasa also pushed for the development of IT, and the establishment of 25 new industrial estates. He said that tourism must be supported in order for the country to be a source of foreign currency.
Wickremesinghe said in this campaign he will double the number of tourists arriving and establish a national fund, as well as new economic zones to increase growth.
More BBC Sinhala report
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