Colombo, Sep 23 (EFE).- Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn-in as Sri Lanka president in a ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on Monday, a day after he was declared winner in the presidential elections during the weekend.
Dissanayake, 55, a candidate for the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition, won the election with 5,740,179 votes, which represents more than 42 percent of the ballots cast.
The Marxist leader took over the reins from Ranil Wickremesinghe, who became president in 2022 after the civil uprising due to a severe economic crisis that led to the fall of the then-head of state Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
“This morning (23rd), I took oath as the 9th Executive President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in the presence of Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at the Presidential Secretariat,” Dissanayake posted on social media platform X.
“I promise to fulfill your responsibility to usher in a new era of Renaissance for this country, and I look forward to your collective contribution to that,” he added.
The second most voted candidate in the election was Sajith Premadasa, candidate of opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), who received 32.76 percent of the vote. Wickremesinghe, who ran for re-election, finished third with 17 percent of the votes.
Dissanayake’s elections is seen as a major shift in the political scene in Sri Lanka, as he comes riding on a string of promises such as ending corruption, lowering taxes and renegotiating a loan of nearly $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is tied to a series of economic reforms that generated unrest among the people.
His biggest challenge as president lies in stabilizing the economy of Sri Lanka, which has been going through a severe economic crisis in recent years.
The new president is also the leader of the Marxist group, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which was a part of the NPP in the elections
This also raises concern among some sections of the people, given that the JVP led two armed revolts against the government in the 1970 and 1980, in which at least 60,000 people were killed, according to estimates.
One of Dissanayake’s first tasks will be to appoint an interim government, after Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena announced his resignation just before the inauguration of the Marxist leader.
Gunawardena was appointed prime minister by Wickremesinghe in 2022.
However, the NPP has barely three representatives in the Sri Lankan parliament, with 225 seats, which will make it very difficult for Dissanayake to call the shots until fresh parliamentary elections are held. EFE
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