Marxist Anura Dissanayake has won the Sri Lankan presidential election

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Marxist parliamentarian Anurakumara Dissanayake won Sri Lanka’s presidential election after voters rejected an old political guard widely accused of leading the South Asian country to economic ruin, the election commission announced Sunday.

Dissanayake, His campaign in favor of the working class and against the political elite made him popular among the youth, ensuring victory Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa and current liberal President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took over the country two years ago after its economy collapsed.

According to Election Commission data, Dissanayake secured 5,740,179 votes and Premadasa 4,530,902 votes.

Two years ago, tens of thousands of Sri Lankans rose up against their president, forcing him to flee the country. As the country prepares for its first election since then, many say they are still waiting for change. (AP Video/Rishi Lekhi, Rajesh Kumar Singh and Jay Balipane)


Supporters cheer on Marxist lawmaker Anurakumara Dissanayake as they watch the presidential election results on a large electronic screen in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, September 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Saturday’s election is very important The country is trying to recover from the worst economic crisis in its history The result was political upheaval.

“This achievement is not the result of the labor of any one person, but the collective effort of hundreds of thousands of you. Your dedication has brought us this far and for that I am very grateful. This victory belongs to all of us,” Dissanayake posted on X.

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Outgoing President Wickremesinghe congratulated Dissanayake through a video and expressed his hope that he will successfully lead the economic recovery efforts. The election was a virtual referendum on Wickremesinghe’s leadership, including restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt under an International Monetary Fund bailout after it defaulted in 2022.

Dissanayake, 55, had said he would renegotiate the IMF deal to make austerity measures more sustainable. Wickremesinghe had warned that any move to change the fundamentals of the deal could delay the release of the fourth tranche of nearly $3 billion, which is critical to maintaining stability.

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National People’s Power leader and presidential candidate Anurakumara Dissanayake speaks to supporters during the final rally in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, September 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

More than 50 countries will go to the polls in 2024

“I have successfully completed the responsibility that history has placed on my shoulders. I was able to rescue my motherland from bankruptcy within two years,” said Wickramasinghe.

Under Wickremesinghe, inflation has declined and foreign reserves and the local currency have strengthened. Economic growth is forecast at 2% this year after a 7% contraction in 2022. But Sri Lankans still struggle with high taxes and the cost of living.

“Throughout our lives, we have suffered a lot and now our children are also suffering. This misery must end,” said 58-year-old Ranuka Priyanthi, who voted for Dissanayake. He said he expected him to rebuild the country, which had been degraded by economic malpractice and corruption.

Political analyst Jehan Perera said Dissanayake’s immediate challenge to economic stability would “address concerns felt by business and financial circles about his Marxist and revolutionary background”.

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Election posters showing portraits of National People’s Power presidential candidate Anura Dissanayake are plastered on the kitchen walls of a restaurant where a chef prepares food for customers in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Monday, September 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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Workers pull a handcart loaded with sacks of vegetables through a wholesale market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Friday, September 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

He said Dissanayake represented the spirit of the 2022 uprising when angry Sri Lankans ousted then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and called for “new faces in politics”.

It was a strong showing for Dissanayake, who received just 3% of the vote in the last 2019 presidential election.

His National People’s Power Alliance is led by the Janata Vimukti Peramuna, or People’s Liberation Front, a Marxist party that waged two failed armed insurgencies in the 1970s and 1980s to seize power through a socialist revolution. After its defeat, the JVP entered democratic politics in 1994 and often played an important role in the opposition. However, they have supported many presidents and were briefly part of governments.

The NPP group includes academics, civil society movements, artists, lawyers and students.

Dissanayake was first elected to Parliament in 2000 and briefly served as Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation under then President Chandrika Kumaratunga. He ran for president for the first time in 2019 and lost to Rajapaksa, who was ousted by the economic crisis two years later.

The government announced the final ban last Thursday Debt restructuring by reaching an agreement In principle with private bondholders. At the time of the default, Sri Lanka’s domestic and foreign debt totaled $83 billion. The government says it has now restructured more than $17 billion.

The crisis was caused by excessive borrowing for non-revenue-generating projects. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the government’s insistence on using scarce foreign reserves to prop up the currency, the rupee, contributed to the economy’s free fall.

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