[News Figures] Sri Lanka's First Marxist-Leaning President Elected

Anura Dissanayake, the 55-year-old leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) who campaigned on eradicating corruption and implementing pro-poor policies, has been elected President of Sri Lanka. According to foreign media, Dissanayake, the left-wing opposition coalition candidate, won the presidency with 42.31% of the vote in the second round of the presidential election. President-elect Dissanayake will lead Sri Lanka for the next five years.

President-elect Dissanayake comes from a humble background, born to a manual laborer father and a housewife mother. After entering the University of Peradeniya, he joined the JVP and began his political activities. Dissanayake dropped out of university following armed struggle. Later, in 1995, he graduated from the University of Kelaniya with a major in physics. That same year, he was appointed as the national organizer of the Socialist Students' Union. In 1997, he joined the JVP Central Committee. Entering parliament in 2000, he served as Minister of Agriculture and other posts under former President Kumaratunga’s administration. In 2008, he rose to the leadership of the JVP. He first ran for president in 2019 but was defeated, losing to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. At that time, Dissanayake’s vote share was in the 3% range.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Sri Lanka, with a population of 23 million, declared national bankruptcy (default) in May 2022 due to an inability to repay $25 billion in external debt. The country plunged into economic hardship, lacking funds to import oil, medical supplies, and cooking fuel, due to failures in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and economic policies. Citizens held anti-government protests, and former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled abroad and resigned. Distrust in the Gotabaya government worked to Dissanayake’s advantage. He pledged strong anti-corruption measures, large-scale welfare programs, and tax cuts as part of his campaign promises.

President-elect Dissanayake faces the challenge of restoring Sri Lanka’s economy. As promised, he must renegotiate the conditions Sri Lanka must fulfill under IMF bailout support to alleviate the hardships faced by the people. He also needs to investigate corruption allegations from the previous administration.

On X (formerly Twitter), President-elect Dissanayake expressed his thoughts, saying, "The election result is the outcome of the collective efforts of hundreds of thousands of you," and added, "The dedication of the people has brought us this far, and I am grateful for that."