Sri Lanka’s new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been sworn in following last weekend’s election. The left-leaning politician has vowed to make economic reform his primary goal as the leader of the debt-stricken nation.
“To end this crisis, the public and all sectors have a major responsibility. I expect the support of everyone in carrying out the task. However, I understand as president that I have the biggest responsibility”, the new president said.
Dissanayake is the leader of the leftist JVP party, meaning People’s Liberation Front. In the 1970s and 1980s, the party spearheaded armed uprisings. But it has since become more moderate.
The key issue in the election was the austerity measures introduced by former president Ranil Wickremesinghe after the country defaulted in 2022.
The 55-year-old Dissanayake won support by calling for tax cuts and reduced electricity bills. He has also taken aim at last year’s deal with the International Monetary Fund, a bailout worth about 3-billion-dollars.
Dissanayake’s toughest task will be trying to balance his election promises to the nation’s poor against the need to continue receiving financial help from the IMF.