Anura Kumara Dissanayake: Who is Sri Lanka’s new president?

After winning the first vote in the debt-ridden nation since its economy collapsed in 2022, left-leaning legislator Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected as Sri Lanka’s next leader.

The 55-year-old beat off his nearest rival, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, to emerge as the clear winner after a historic second round of counting, which included second-preference votes. Outgoing president Ranil Wikremesinghe trailed in third.

It’s a remarkable turn for a person who won only 3 % of the vote in the 2019 vote. Dissanayake, who contested as candidate for the National People’s Power ( NPP ) alliance, has drawn increasing support in recent years for his anti-corruption platform and pro-poor policies – particularly in the wake of the country’s worst ever economic crisis, which is still having an impact on millions.

He will now be in charge of a struggling country that is trying to get out of the ghost of that issue and whose people are desperate for change.

So who is president-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake?

Dissanayake was born on 24 November, 1968 in Galewela, a multi-cultural and multi-religious area in central Sri Lanka.

Raised as a member of the middle-class, he is open college educated, has a degree in physics, and second entered politics as a learner around the day when the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement was signed in 1987: an occasion that may lead to one of Sri Lanka’s bloodiest times.

An armed revolt against the Sri Lankan government was spearheaded by the Janatha Vimukti Peramuna ( JVP), a Marxist political party with which Dissanayake would later become intimately associated, between 1987 and 1989.

A fight characterized by attacks, assassinations, and attacks on both political opponents and civilians that claimed thousands of lives was the result of the insurrectionist campaign, which was spurred by children from the remote lower and middle classes.

Dissanayake, who was elected to the JVP’s key committee in 1997 and became its head in 2008, has since apologised for the team’s murder during this so-called” winter of terror”.

In a 2014 interview with the BBC, he stated that” a lot of things happened during the armed conflict that should n’t have happened.”

” We are still shocked, and shocked that things happened at our hands that should n’t have. We are constantly profoundly shocked and saddened by that.

The JVP, which now has only three seats in parliament, is part of the NPP alliance that Dissanayake then heads.

While fighting for the national election, Dissanayake addressed another harsh moment in Sri Lanka’s new story: the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

At least 290 people were killed and hundreds of others were hurt in what quickly turned out to be the worst attack in Sri Lanka’s record on April 21, 2019, when a series of dangerous storms tore through churches and international resorts across the investment Colombo.

Five years later, but, investigations into how the co-ordinated problems happened, and the security problems that led to them, have failed to deliver answers.

Some have accused the previous government, led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, of affecting studies.

Dissanayake promised to conduct an investigation into the matter if elected, suggesting that officials had avoided doing so because they feared revealing” their personal duty” in a recent discussion with BBC Sinhala.

It’s just one of several unfulfilled claims from Sri Lanka’s political aristocracy, he added.

” It’s not just this analysis”, he said. Politicians who said they would cease corruption have actually engaged in it, while those who said they would make a debt-free Sri Lanka have just increased the burden have just increased. Those who said they would strengthen the law have also done so.

This is precisely why the people of this nation demand a unique style of government. We are the ones who may offer it.

In the run-up to Saturday’s election, Dissanayake was seen as a strong prospect who could alter the country’s lingering feelings.

In 2022, a large number of demonstrations sparked by the financial collapse led to the ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa being forced out of Sri Lanka.

Decades of under-taxation, poor exports and big policy problems, combined with the Covid-19 crisis, dried up the government’s foreign exchange reserves. Public debt exceeded$ 83 billion, and prices shot up to a 70 % rate.

The issue was brought on by Rajapaksa and his administration. And though his leader, President Wickremesinghe, introduced economic changes that brought down prices and strengthened the Sri Lankan dollar, people continue to feel the squeeze.

In a deeper sense, a new kind of political leadership was needed in the wake of the 2022 financial crisis and the circumstances surrounding it, including widespread corruption and political impunity. Dissanayake has made the most of that requirement.

He has portrayed himself as a possible industry of a standing status that, according to reviewers, has long fostered corruption and cronyism among the social elite.

In a recent interview with BBC Sinhala, Dissanayake suggested that he would dissolve parliament within weeks of being elected in order to have a clean slate and a new mission for his plans.

There is no point in continuing to have a parliament that does n’t conform to the people’s demands, he said.

Among Dissanayake’s plan pledges are strong anti-corruption steps, bigger welfare schemes and a guarantee to slash fees.

As part of austerity measures intended to reshape the nation’s economy, the current government imposed tax increases and security cuts, which likewise left many people able to make ends meet.

In an election where experts predicted economic concerns may be top of mind, Dissanayake’s promises to rein in those actions appears to have sparked a wave of support among voters.

” The region’s soaring prices, skyrocketing cost-of-living and hardship have left the public eager for solutions to stabilise prices and increase livelihoods,” Soumya Bhowmick, an associate brother at India-based think container the Observer Research Foundation, told the BBC before the vote.

This vote is critical for shaping Sri Lanka’s recuperation path and restoring both domestic and international trust in its management as the nation struggles to recover from its economic collapse.

Some bystanders, including traders and market members, expressed concern that Dissanayake’s monetary policies could have an effect on fiscal goals and destroy Sri Lanka’s road to recovery.

But, the presidential candidate moderated his speech choices and vowed to make sure Sri Lanka’s debt was paid back.

He added that any modifications may be made in consultation with the IMF, which has served as a support for the nation’s still-fragile business.

Some analysts think the second president’s primary task is building a steady economy.

The most important issue is how to restore this economy, including managing public consumption and increasing public income generation, according to Athulasiri Samarakoon, senior lecturer in social science and international studies at the Open University of Sri Lanka.

Any future governments will need to collaborate with the International Monetary Fund, he declared.

About 76 % of Sri Lanka’s 17.1 million electorate turned out to vote in Saturday’s election, according to officials.

By Sunday morning, Dissanayake’s two main rivals, incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, had already received congratulations messages from them.

Early results clearly indicated a Dissanayake victory, according to Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, according to Sabry on X.

” Though I heavily campaigned for President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the people of Sri Lanka have made their decision, and I fully respect their mandate for Anura Kumara Dissanayake,” Sabry said.

MP Harsha de Silva, who supported Premadasa, said he had called Dissanayake to offer his congratulations.

We worked hard for @sajithpremadasa, but it turned out not to be. It is now clear @anuradisanayake will be the new President of# SriLanka,” said de Silva, who represents Colombo in parliament.

Another Premadasa supporter, Tamil National Alliance ( TNA ) spokesman MA Sumanthiran, said Dissanayake delivered an” impressive win “without relying on” racial or religious chauvinism”.

Additional reporting from BBC Sinhala