Sri Lanka’s new leader says no magic solution to crisis
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Mr Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) taking his oath at the colonial-era Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.
PHOTO: AFP
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COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s first leftist president
Self-avowed Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) took his oath at the colonial-era Presidential Secretariat in Colombo after trouncing his nearest rivals in the Sept 21 vote.
The previously fringe politician – whose party led two failed uprisings that left tens of thousands dead – saw a surge of support after the country’s 2022 economic meltdown forced painful hardships on ordinary Sri Lankans.
Mr Dissanayake, the bearded 55-year-old son of a labourer, was sworn in by the chief justice in a ceremony attended by lawmakers, members of the Buddhist clergy and the military, who sang the national anthem after the ceremony.
“I am not a conjuror, I am not a magician, I am a common citizen,” he said after taking his oath.
“I have strengths and limitations, things I know and things I don’t... My responsibility is to be part of a collective effort to end this crisis.”
A small crowd of JVP supporters gathered outside the secretariat, waving pictures of Mr Dissanayake and the national flag.
“We hope something good will happen,” construction worker Thilina Hansaka told AFP. “I don’t think much of anything can be done overnight, or even in five years. Let’s give him a chance and see what he is capable of doing.”
Mr Dissanayake succeeds outgoing president Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office at the peak of the financial crisis following the government’s first-ever foreign debt default and months of punishing food, fuel and medicine shortages.
Mr Wickremesinghe, 75, imposed steep tax hikes and other austerity measures according to the terms of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. His policies ended the shortages and returned the economy to growth, but left millions struggling to make ends meet.
Shortly before the ceremony, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena resigned, clearing the way for Mr Dissanayake to appoint his own Cabinet.
Mr Dissanayake’s party has said he wants to have his own Cabinet until a fresh Parliament is elected later in 2024. His JVP party has only three members in the 225-member legislature.
He has softened some policies since his rise to popularity, saying he believes in an open economy and is not totally opposed to privatisation.
He has vowed to press ahead with the IMF rescue package negotiated by his predecessor in 2023, but modify its terms in order to deliver tax cuts.
Colombo’s stock exchange recovered from early jitters in its first day of trade since the vote to finish 1.5 per cent higher.
‘Work with other nations’
Addressing concerns about the JVP’s historical anti-West and anti-India stance, Mr Dissanayake said he wanted international support to rebuild the economy.
“Regardless of the power divisions in the world, we intend to work with other nations to benefit our country,” he said, as Colombo-based diplomats watched from the balcony of the presidential office.
India and China – Sri Lanka’s biggest neighbour and largest bilateral creditor respectively – are competing for influence in the island nation, strategically situated on global east-west sea routes.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he looked forward to working closely with Mr Dissanayake to “strengthen our multifaceted cooperation for the benefit of our people and the entire region”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said he hoped to work with the new president “to continue our traditional friendship (and) enhance mutual political trust”.
Legacy of violence
Mr Dissanayake’s party led two rebellions in the 1970s and 1980s that left more than 80,000 people dead before it renounced violence.
It had been a peripheral player in Sri Lankan politics in the decades since, winning less than 4 per cent of the vote during the most recent parliamentary elections in 2020.
But Sri Lanka’s crisis proved an opportunity for Mr Dissanayake, who saw his popularity rise after pledging to change the island’s “corrupt” political culture.
He was a JVP student leader during the second insurrection and has described how one of his teachers sheltered him to save him from government-backed death squads that killed party activists.
He counts famous Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara among his heroes. AFP
