The Fort Worth Press - Marxist leader declared Sri Lanka's president-elect

USD -
AED 3.672904
AFN 68.266085
ALL 93.025461
AMD 389.644872
ANG 1.80769
AOA 912.000205
ARS 998.187341
AUD 1.54681
AWG 1.795
AZN 1.699915
BAM 1.85463
BBD 2.025224
BDT 119.861552
BGN 1.857551
BHD 0.376464
BIF 2962.116543
BMD 1
BND 1.344649
BOB 6.930918
BRL 5.79695
BSD 1.002987
BTN 84.270352
BWP 13.71201
BYN 3.282443
BYR 19600
BZD 2.02181
CAD 1.40854
CDF 2865.000289
CHF 0.88849
CLF 0.035528
CLP 975.269072
CNY 7.232497
CNH 7.238275
COP 4499.075435
CRC 510.454696
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.561187
CZK 23.98011
DJF 178.606989
DKK 7.07951
DOP 60.43336
DZD 133.184771
EGP 49.34435
ERN 15
ETB 121.465364
EUR 0.94915
FJD 2.27595
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.79254
GEL 2.735018
GGP 0.789317
GHS 16.022948
GIP 0.789317
GMD 71.000379
GNF 8643.497226
GTQ 7.746432
GYD 209.748234
HKD 7.786475
HNL 25.330236
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.85719
HUF 387.154498
IDR 15898.3
ILS 3.72799
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.47775
IQD 1313.925371
IRR 42092.499662
ISK 137.650046
JEP 0.789317
JMD 159.290693
JOD 0.709096
JPY 154.382984
KES 129.894268
KGS 86.499912
KHR 4051.965293
KMF 466.575013
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1395.924959
KWD 0.30754
KYD 0.835902
KZT 498.449576
LAK 22039.732587
LBP 89819.638708
LKR 293.025461
LRD 184.552653
LSL 18.247689
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.898772
MAD 9.999526
MDL 18.224835
MGA 4665.497131
MKD 58.423024
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.042767
MRU 40.039827
MUR 47.210138
MVR 15.45003
MWK 1739.225262
MXN 20.353475
MYR 4.470502
MZN 63.901748
NAD 18.247689
NGN 1665.819778
NIO 36.906737
NOK 11.093415
NPR 134.832867
NZD 1.704579
OMR 0.384524
PAB 1.002987
PEN 3.80769
PGK 4.033
PHP 58.731497
PKR 278.485894
PLN 4.10247
PYG 7826.086957
QAR 3.656441
RON 4.72391
RSD 110.944953
RUB 99.964122
RWF 1377.554407
SAR 3.756134
SBD 8.390419
SCR 13.839885
SDG 601.500271
SEK 10.98281
SGD 1.342055
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.603065
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 573.230288
SRD 35.315501
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.776255
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.240956
THB 34.786005
TJS 10.692144
TMT 3.51
TND 3.164478
TOP 2.342099
TRY 34.470335
TTD 6.810488
TWD 32.476799
TZS 2667.962638
UAH 41.429899
UGX 3681.191029
UYU 43.042056
UZS 12838.651558
VES 45.732111
VND 25390
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 622.025509
XAG 0.032899
XAU 0.000389
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.755583
XOF 622.025509
XPF 113.090892
YER 249.875006
ZAR 18.16622
ZMK 9001.200902
ZMW 27.537812
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    61.8400

    61.84

    +100%

  • SCS

    -0.0400

    13.23

    -0.3%

  • NGG

    0.3800

    62.75

    +0.61%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    24.57

    +0.08%

  • JRI

    0.0235

    13.1

    +0.18%

  • AZN

    -1.8100

    63.23

    -2.86%

  • RYCEF

    0.0400

    6.82

    +0.59%

  • BCE

    -0.0200

    26.82

    -0.07%

  • RIO

    0.5500

    60.98

    +0.9%

  • GSK

    -0.6509

    33.35

    -1.95%

  • VOD

    0.0900

    8.77

    +1.03%

  • BTI

    0.9000

    36.39

    +2.47%

  • RELX

    -1.5000

    44.45

    -3.37%

  • BP

    -0.0700

    28.98

    -0.24%

  • CMSD

    0.0822

    24.44

    +0.34%

  • BCC

    -0.2600

    140.09

    -0.19%

Marxist leader declared Sri Lanka's president-elect
Marxist leader declared Sri Lanka's president-elect / Photo: © AFP

Marxist leader declared Sri Lanka's president-elect

Sri Lanka's election commission declared a previously fringe Marxist politician the country's president-elect on Sunday after a vote coloured by discontent over the island nation's response to an unprecedented financial crisis.

Text size:

Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, the 55-year-old leader of the People's Liberation Front, won the presidency with 42.31 percent of the vote in Saturday's election, the commission said.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa took second place with 32.76 percent.

Outgoing President Ranil Wickremesinghe -- who took office at the peak of the 2022 economic collapse and imposed tough austerity policies per the terms of an IMF bailout -- took a distant third with 17.27 percent.

Wickremesinghe has yet to concede, but Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said it was clear that Dissanayaka had won.

"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 Dissanayaka," Sabry said on social media.

Dissanayaka will be sworn in on Monday morning at the colonial-era President Secretariat in Colombo, election commission officials said.

- IMF deal -

Economic issues dominated the eight-week campaign, with widespread public anger over the hardships endured since the peak of the crisis two years ago.

Dissanayaka would "not tear up" the IMF deal but would seek to modify it, a party politburo member told AFP.

"It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate," said Bimal Ratnayake.

He said Dissanayaka had pledged to reduce income taxes that were doubled by Wickremesinghe and slash sales taxes on food and medicines.

"We think we can get those reductions into the programme and continue with the four-year bailout programme," he said.

Dissanayaka's once-marginal Marxist party led two failed uprisings in the 1970s and 1980s that left more than 80,000 people dead.

It won less than four percent of the vote during the most recent parliamentary elections in 2020.

But Sri Lanka's crisis has proven an opportunity for Dissanayaka, who has seen a surge of support based on his pledge to change the island's "corrupt" political culture.

"Our country needs a new political culture," he said after casting his ballot on Saturday.

Around 76 percent of Sri Lanka's 17.1 million eligible voters cast ballots in Saturday's poll.

Dissanayaka's party sought to reassure India that any administration he led would not be caught up in geopolitical rivalry between its northern neighbour and China, the country's largest lender.

New Delhi has expressed concerns over what it sees as Beijing's growing influence in Sri Lanka, which sits on vital shipping lanes criss-crossing the Indian Ocean.

"Sri Lankan territory will not be used against any other nation," Ratnayake told AFP.

"We are fully aware of the geopolitical situation in our region, but we will not participate."

- Austerity rejected -

Wickremesinghe sought re-election to continue belt-tightening measures that stabilised the economy and ended months of food, fuel and medicine shortages during Sri Lanka's economic meltdown.

His two years in office restored calm to the streets after civil unrest spurred by the downturn saw thousands storm the compound of his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who then fled the country.

But Wickremesinghe's tax hikes and other measures imposed under the $2.9 billion IMF bailout he secured last year left millions struggling to make ends meet.

Official data showed that Sri Lanka's poverty rate doubled to 25 percent between 2021 and 2022, adding more than 2.5 million people to those already living on less than $3.65 a day.

Thousands of police were deployed to keep watch over voting on Saturday.

A temporary curfew was imposed after polls closed, despite police reporting that there had been no violence during or after balloting.

No victory rallies or celebrations are permitted until a week after the final results are declared.

J.P.Cortez--TFWP