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In an interview with The Hindu in September first week, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a party with Marxist origins, said his priorities would be to fix Sri Lanka’s battered economy and wipe out racism. Mr. Dissanayake, who was the presidential candidate of the National People’s Power alliance, led by the JVP, said people “are voting for change”. The word ‘change’ became a catchphrase of the 2024 presidential polls.
The election was significant in many ways. It was the first election since President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was booted out of power by a popular uprising in July 2022. It was an election that was largely fought on economic issues, as our correspondent in Colombo, Meera Sinivasan, reported. It was an election where the Rajapksas, the family that dominated Sri Lanka’s politics for years, were not a significant factor–Namal Rajapaksa, son of former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, was one of the 38 candidates but was never seen as a frontrunner. The fight was largely between three candidates — incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, who assumed presidency after Mr. Gotabaya fled the country in 2022; opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and Mr. Dissanayake.
Mr. Wickremesinghe, whose immediate focus was on stabilising the country’s economy after its default and meltdown of 2022, promised continuity. His government negotiated a bailout deal with the IMF, and took credit for ending fuel rationing and bringing in relative macroeconomic stability. But the stability he claimed to have delivered hardly reached the poorer sections of Sri Lanka’s voters, who were the hardest hit by the economic crisis.
Mr. Premadasa sought to consolidate the anti-incumbency sentiments but he was also seen as part of the old elite by many voters. Mr. Dissanayake was the outsider. He presented himself as the agent of change’, the original promise of ‘Janatha Aragalaya (People’s struggle), the mass movement that brought down the Rajapaksas. “If we can fix the economy and make it work for all; build a country with no racism or religious intolerance; and set a course for social justice, I would consider it a success,” Mr. Dissanayake, who had earlier said what Sri Lanka wanted was a “national liberation movement, not just a regime change, said in the September interview. The voters wanted a break from the old elites. And they picked him as the next president of the country.
When the results were out, Mr. Dissanayake secured 42.31% of the votes. Mr. Premadasa was in the second spot with 32.76%, while Mr. Wickremesinghe came third with under 20% of the vote share, according to our report.
But who is Mr. Dissanayake and how did he script this victory? And how has the JVP, a controversial party that had led violent insurrections in the past, evolved into a popular parliamentary machinery? For answers, read this profile of Sri Lanka’s President-elect by Meera Srinivasan.
While Mr. Dissanayake’s election marks a break from the establishment, what’s to be seen is how he is going to deliver on the promises he made or tackle the challenges the Indian Ocean nation of 22 million faces. As the axiom goes, change is easy to promise and hard to deliver. The economy is not out of the doldrums. The IMF terms, which are hugely unpopular, would be hanging on the head of the government. The civil war might be over, but the Tamil question remains unresolved. And Sri Lanka will have to do a lot of tough balancing in foreign policy as competition between India and China, two major Asian countries, are heating up in the Indian Ocean region. The old elites are out. But the old challenges remain as the new President takes over.
Modi in U.S.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to supporters as he arrives at the Lotte hotel in New York City, New York, U.S., June 20, 2023. | Photo Credit: Reuters
The leaders of the Quad group of countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met at their sixth summit level meeting at Archmere Academy, Mr Biden’s former school in Claymont, Delaware. The leaders announced a broad range of outcomes, including the launch of a new coast guard exercise, a logistics network, expansion of maritime surveillance, and a project to combat cervical cancer, reports Sriram Lakshman from Wilmington. The Quad leaders strongly condemned aggression in the East and South China Sea and expressed alarm over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Top Five
1. India needs a ‘National Security Strategy’
It needs to bring together diverse aspects such as defence and finance into a coherent whole; however, this is an exercise that needs to be conducted quietly, writes Tara Kartha.
A day after the pager blasts, reports emerged that walkie-talkies used by the militant group Hezbollah blew up, killing nearly two dozen and injuring over 450 people. The covert two-day operation in Lebanon highlights high levels of tech sophistication in simple, vintage-time gadgets, writes John Xavier.
3. Pokrovsk: The Russians are coming
With the Russian troops making gains in the battlefield in the east, Ukraine seeks to hurt Russia with drone and missile strikes, writes Stanly Johny.
4. Jill Stein: Three’s not a crowd
While the contest is between the Democratic and Republican parties, the Green Party candidate’s strong anti-war position is having an impact among sections of American voters, writes Priyali Prakash.
5. Reflections on America’s customary face-off
The long tradition of American Presidential debates has meant make or break for Presidents and presidential aspirants, writes Shashi Tharoor.
Published - September 23, 2024 03:12 pm IST
