Anura Dissanayake of the leftist party has been elected President of Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka took the oath of office of the new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the representative of the party of the leftist orientation. This UNN writes with reference to Euronews.

Details

Dissanayake, who represents an extreme left-wing party and is a self-described Marxist, won 42 percent of the vote in the weekend election.

At the end of the vote count, Dissanayake was supported by 5,740,179 voters, while his closest rival from the opposition United National Force party, Sajith Premadasa, was supported by 4,530,902 voters.

In his election program, he promised to deal decisively with the consequences of the economic crisis and the default two years ago.

In particular, he intends to renegotiate the terms of the agreement with the IMF, which requires reforms and austerity in exchange for a bailout package. But he promises not to break the agreements with the international fund.

Context

Presidential elections in Sri Lanka were held on September 21. The head of state is elected for five years through general direct elections, his tenure is limited to two terms. The last direct presidential election in the country was held in 2019, which was won by Sri Lanka People's Front candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However, he resigned in July 2022 amid protests. The incumbent head of state Ranil Wickramasinghe succeeded him.

Recall

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