Sri Lankans reject the political establishment and vote for leftist change in historic presidential election
In a forum after the presidential election campaign in Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake spoke about the changes he would bring to his debt-ridden country, which is in crisis of economic recovery.
“We will defeat those who use the influence of their families, their wealth, the influence of the government,” he told a large crowd in the last day of rallies allowed before Saturday’s vote.
“They will all be defeated by the power of the people.”
That message against the political establishment, accused of corruption and financial mismanagement, deeply affected the millions of Sri Lankans who voted for the Marxist candidate leading the National People’s Party (NPP) coalition.
Dissanayake, 55, led the morning of the presidential vote count in Sri Lanka on Sunday, jumping ahead, but finished with 42 percent – less than the 50 percent needed to be officially declared president in the first count. His main rival – Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the opposition – trailed the front-runner by about 10 percentage points.
Under Sri Lanka’s special voting system, where voters can cast second and third ballots, officials have begun a second count for the first time in the country’s history.
Dissayanake was declared the winner on Sunday evening, after a second count, with more than 5.7 million votes, according to Sri Lanka’s election commission.
It was a revolutionary vote, many Sri Lankans said, when they voted.
“We wanted a change for our children, our children’s children,” said Colombo resident Mohamed Razik Mohamed Inoon, who voted for Dissanayake.
He was tired of choosing between the same old political camps, he told CBC News.
“They sold the country.”
Dissanayake’s win is a dramatic turnaround for his party, which has long been under scrutiny and has only three seats in Sri Lanka’s parliament. It led to unsuccessful Marxist insurgencies in the late 1980s and early 1970s.
This is the first presidential election in Sri Lanka since the failure to borrow money in 2022, which plunged the country into an economic crisis characterized by shortages of fuel and other essentials.
A huge protest broke out and tens of thousands of Sri Lankans took to the streets, forcing the then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was accused of running the country’s finances down, to flee.
Financial stress is a top concern for voters
This election is widely seen as a referendum on the time of Wickremesinghe, the former finance minister, who was appointed as the speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament after the resignation of Rajapaksa.
Wickremesinghe, 75, campaigned on his economic record in this election. During his time in office, he stabilized the economy and reduced inflation from a high of 70 percent to about 0.5 percent. He also negotiated with the International Monetary Fund for an important bailout package to contain the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, raising taxes in the process.
Sri Lankan citizens say they are burdened by the economic crisis and high inflation.
Comparing Sri Lanka to the Titanic, Wickremesinghe told a crowd gathered at a meeting in Matara on September 18, that “it could have sunk … there was no captain. I took charge of the ship.”
But Wickremesinghe’s appeal for a more conservative economic performance has not caught on with voters, many of whom have been grappling with the effects of austerity measures, including higher taxes and food prices.
The poverty rate in the country has doubled since the economic crisis broke out in 2022.
The economy, and the financial pain from related cost-cutting measures, was the top election issue for those working in the Paliyagoda fish market, near Colombo.
“I don’t know what will happen to the country,” said fishmonger Kushan Chamara, 30. “Now we have no business.”
He said the tax has increased so dramatically that his family’s business is struggling to buy the fish they need to sell enough and pay their few employees.
Chamara wanted a president “who will help the people of Sri Lanka.” He voted for Disanayake.
Wikremesinghe came third and was eliminated after the first round.
“Criticism of [Wickremesinghe] the government has unfairly placed the burden of reform on those who cannot bear it,” said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Colombo-based think tank, the Center for Policy Alternatives.
There is also the fact that Wickremesinghe was closely connected to the Rajapaksa family and its powerful political dynasty. They were accused of negotiating corrupt deals and sinking the island nation.
Many see Wickremesinghe as “a representative of the political party that has ruled this country for the past seventy years and has dragged us into this crisis”, according to Saravanamuttu.
Many Sri Lankans are looking for “new blood in the system,” he said.
“We need a new contract to communicate with people because the one we have is very lacking.”
‘You are our last hope’
For Dissanayake’s supporters, his message of helping the poor in the country came as a welcome relief, with many feeling disillusioned with the ruling class.
At one of her last campaign rallies in the capital Colombo, 17-year-old Janvi Sunree was delighted with the left-wing candidate’s performance, even though she was too young to vote.
“Some people [in Sri Lanka] they’re living their best lives and others aren’t, they’re struggling,” he told CBC News.
“We need a change,” he added. “And you are our last hope.”
That view was echoed by Mohamed Farzan, 63, who never voted in the last election but voted for Disanayake on Saturday.
“I thought, ‘This guy is real, and we need real people to take over the country,'” said Farzan, who lives in the Ratmalana suburb.
“Corruption is at a high level. So we need someone who can bring that to zero, and he can do that.”
The general election is coming
Voter turnout, according to the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, was about 75 percent, which is lower than the previous election.
Sri Lanka imposed a curfew during the counting of votes, which was extended until Sunday afternoon, as a measure to avoid any violence, although officials described the vote as one of the most peaceful in the country’s history.
Dissanayake, who may be sworn in as president on Monday, is expected to immediately call a general election to increase his party’s number of seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.
But there may be challenges awaiting the president-elect, say analysts, especially in making sure that the country complies with the terms of the IMF bailout program and ensure economic growth, while fulfilling his promises to reduce the burden on Sri Lanka’s poorest. The island nation is expected to start paying off its debts in 2028.
“This is the first time that they have received the authority to run the country and they have never been in the opposition,” said Indika Perera, a Colombo-based lawyer and peace and conflict analyst.
He said that the Marxist-leaning party will be closely watched in terms of “whether they will be able to get their act together and make international goals.”
“We are at an important stage [our economic recovery]. Sri Lanka is at the edge of the table, so if we start dancing, we can fall.”
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