Marxist leader Anura Dissanayake wins Sri Lanka’s presidential election

Meanwhile, incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe was eliminated astatine the extremity of the archetypal circular of counting.

Known for his pro-working people stance and crisp critique of the governmental elite, Dissanayake of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party’s broader beforehand National People’s Power (NPP), captured 39.5% of the votes successful the archetypal circular and was starring successful the 2nd number of preferential votes astatine the clip of going to press.

A triumph volition people not lone a idiosyncratic triumph for the 55-year-old person but volition besides beryllium a watershed infinitesimal for his Leftist party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Once seen arsenic a extremist fringe group, the JVP mislaid hundreds of its equipped rebels to the Sri Lankan service during the brutal uprisings of the 1980s. A triumph volition awesome a melodramatic translation for the party, from its militant past to a morganatic unit successful nationalist politics.

In the 2024 statesmanlike race, Dissanayake’s level of betterment resonated with voters who had grown weary of governmental patronage and dynastic rule. Early predetermination results showed him leading, arsenic his closest rivals struggled to summation traction. Namal Rajapaksa, different campaigner and the lad of Mahinda Rajapaksa failed to get adjacent 5% ballot share.

Dissanayake’s rebranding of the JVP into a broader coalition, coupled with his absorption connected women’s empowerment and the marginalised, are seen arsenic cardinal factors that earned him wide support.

Sri Lanka voted to elite a caller president connected Sept 21 successful the country’s archetypal predetermination since the wide protests of 2022 that led to the ouster of the unpopular Rajapaksas from power. (Brothers Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa were premier curate and president respectively).