A man waves a Sri Lankan flag after climbing a tower near the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, which was occupied by anti-government protesters, on July 11, 2022. (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Arun Sankar | AFP | Getty Images
Marxist-leaning Sri Lankan leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake took a landslide lead in his bid to be the debt-ridden country's next president on Sunday. seeks to elect a leader to shore up its fragile economic recovery.
Data from Sri Lanka's Electoral Commission showed that Dissanayake won about 53% of the 1 million votes counted so far in the election. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa came in second with 22%, ahead of President Ranil Wickremesinghe who came in third.
About 75% of the Indian Ocean island nation's 17 million eligible people voted in Saturday's election, according to pollsters.
Dissanayake is running as a candidate in the National People's Power (NPP) alliance, which includes his Marxist-leaning People's Party (JVP), which has historically supported greater state intervention, lower taxes and a more closed market economy policy.
Although the JVP party only has three seats in parliament, Dissanayake, 55, has been boosted by promises of tough anti-corruption measures and more pro-poor policies.
He calls himself a candidate for change and has pledged to dissolve parliament within 45 days of taking office in order to seek a new mandate for his policies in a general election.
“After a long and hard campaign, the results of the election are now clear,” Foreign Minister Ali Sabri said on X.
“While I strongly support President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the people of Sri Lanka have made their decision and I fully respect their mandate for Anura Kumar Dissanayake.”
This is Sri Lanka's first election since 2022 when the economy struggled due to a severe shortage of foreign exchange, leaving the country unable to pay for the import of essential goods such as fuel, medicine and cooking gas.
In 2022, thousands of protesters marched in Colombo and occupied the presidential office and official residence, forcing then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and subsequently resign. The economy has shown an initial recovery, supported by a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue package, but the high cost of living remains a key issue for many voters.
Although inflation fell to 0.5% last month from a crisis high of 70% and the economy is expected to grow for the first time in three years in 2024, millions of people remain trapped in poverty and many are pinning their hopes for a better future on in the next century.
The winner must ensure that Sri Lanka sticks to an International Monetary Fund plan by 2027 to put its economy on a stable growth path, calm markets, repay debt, attract investors and lift a quarter of its people out of poverty.
Dissanayake is known for delivering rousing speeches in which he pledged deep tax cuts that would impact fiscal targets, making investors and market participants worried about his economic policies.
In campaign speeches, however, he took a more conciliatory approach, saying any changes would be made in consultation with the International Monetary Fund and that he was committed to ensuring debt repayments.