Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumar Dissanayake was confident of victory in snap legislative elections held on Thursday.
Dissanayake took power in September presidential elections on a promise to fight corruption and reclaim the country’s stolen wealth, two years after an unprecedented economic recession ousted then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
On Thursday, the 55-year-old said he expected a “strong majority” in Parliament to move forward on his platform.
“We believe this is an important election which will mark a turning point in Sri Lanka,” Dissanayake told reporters after casting his vote at a polling station in the capital.
“In this election, the NPP expects a very strong majority mandate in Parliament,” he said, referring to the National People’s Power coalition, of which his JVP, or People’s Liberation Front (JVP), is the main component.
Police said the nine-hour polling period passed without any incidents of violence, unlike most ballots in recent years, but three election personnel, including a police constable, died due to illness in the line of duty.
Voter turnout figures were not immediately available, but election officials said participation appeared to be lower than in presidential elections, when about 80 percent of Sri Lanka’s eligible voters voted.
“I hope for a new country, a new government that is friendly to the people,” Milton Gankandge, a 70-year-old pensioner who was among the first to vote in Colombo’s Wellawatte district, told AFP.
“The previous rulers betrayed us. We need new rulers who will develop the country.”
Dissanayake had been an MP for nearly 25 years and also briefly served as Agriculture Minister, but his NPP alliance had only three seats in the outgoing assembly.
He ascended to the presidency after successfully distancing himself from established politicians blamed for leading the country into its worst economic crisis in 2022.
His JVP party led two rebellions in 1971 and 1987 that resulted in at least 80,000 deaths, but Dissanayake was sworn in after an election described as one of the island nation’s most peaceful.
University academic Shivalogadasan, who goes by one name, said Dissanayake needed more time to fulfill his promises.
“Some things have started to change… but you can’t expect it immediately,” the 52-year-old told AFP.
‘Investor’s confidence’
8,880 candidates were in the fray for 225 seats in Parliament. Voting closed at 4:00 pm (1030 GMT).
Despite previous promises to renegotiate the controversial $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout secured by his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dissanayake has opted to maintain the agreement with the international lender.
The country’s main private sector lobby, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, is tacitly supporting Dissanayake and his programme.
“Continued reforms … can stimulate both investor confidence and fiscal discipline, thereby laying the foundation for sustainable growth,” CCC Secretary Bhuvanekabahu Perera told AFP.
An IMF delegation is due to arrive in Colombo on Thursday to review economic progress ahead of the release of the next $330 million tranche of the bailout loan.
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, who had campaigned to participate in the coalition government, vowed to “put pressure” on Dissanayake to honor the promised tax cuts at his final campaign rally.
‘foregone conclusion’
Election observers and analysts said Thursday’s election failed to generate the enthusiasm or violence seen in previous elections.
Political analyst Kusal Perera said, “The opposition is dead.” “The outcome of the election is a foregone conclusion.”
The outgoing parliament was dominated by the party of former Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, two brothers from a powerful political clan who have both served as president, but it has since disintegrated.
Neither Rajapaksa is contesting, but Mahinda’s son Namal, a former sports minister, is seeking re-election.
Damyantha Perera, 49, a private sector executive, said he knew the outcome of Thursday’s election would be in favor of Dissanayake’s NPP and voted for a party that was unlikely to win.
“I voted based on my conscience,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
