Marxist Anura Dissanayake has won the Sri Lankan presidential election

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Marxist parliamentarian Anurakumara Dissanayake won Sri Lanka’s presidential election after voters rejected an old political guard widely accused of leading the South Asian country to economic ruin, the election commission announced Sunday.

Dissanayake, His campaign in favor of the working class and against the political elite made him popular among the youth, ensuring victory Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa and current liberal President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took over the country two years ago after its economy collapsed.

According to Election Commission data, Dissanayake secured 5,740,179 votes and Premadasa 4,530,902 votes.

Saturday’s election is very important The country is trying to recover from the worst economic crisis in its history The result was political upheaval.

Outgoing President Wickremesinghe congratulated Dissanayake through a video and expressed his hope that he will successfully lead the economic recovery efforts. The election was a virtual referendum on Wickremesinghe’s leadership, including restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt under an International Monetary Fund bailout after it defaulted in 2022.

Dissanayake, 55, had said he would renegotiate the IMF deal to make austerity measures more sustainable. Wickremesinghe had warned that any move to change the fundamentals of the deal could delay the release of the fourth tranche of nearly $3 billion, which is critical to maintaining stability.

“I have successfully completed the responsibility that history has placed on my shoulders. I was able to rescue my motherland from bankruptcy within two years,” said Wickramasinghe.

Under Wickremesinghe, inflation has declined and foreign reserves and the local currency have strengthened. Economic growth is forecast at 2% this year after a 7% contraction in 2022. But Sri Lankans still struggle with high taxes and the cost of living.

“Throughout our lives, we have suffered a lot and now our children are also suffering. This misery must end,” said 58-year-old Ranuka Priyanthi, who voted for Dissanayake. He said he expected him to rebuild the country, which had been degraded by economic malpractice and corruption.

Political analyst Jehan Perera said Dissanayake’s immediate challenge to economic stability would “address concerns felt by business and financial circles about his Marxist and revolutionary background”.

He said Dissanayake represented the spirit of the 2022 uprising when angry Sri Lankans ousted then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and called for “new faces in politics”.

It was a strong showing for Dissanayake, who received just 3% of the vote in the last 2019 presidential election.

His National People’s Power Alliance is led by the Janata Vimukti Peramuna, or People’s Liberation Front, a Marxist party that waged two failed armed insurgencies in the 1970s and 1980s to seize power through a socialist revolution. After its defeat, the JVP entered democratic politics in 1994 and often played an important role in the opposition. However, they have supported many presidents and were briefly part of governments.

The NPP group includes academics, civil society movements, artists, lawyers and students.

Dissanayake was first elected to Parliament in 2000 and briefly served as Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation under then President Chandrika Kumaratunga. He ran for president for the first time in 2019 and lost to Rajapaksa, who was ousted by the economic crisis two years later.

The government announced the final ban last Thursday Debt restructuring by reaching an agreement In principle with private bondholders. At the time of the default, Sri Lanka’s domestic and foreign debt totaled $83 billion. The government says it has now restructured more than $17 billion.