Aparna Ramamurthy in Colombo Courtesy DW.com

Sri Lanka’s new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, is tasked with leading the island nation out of its worst economic crisis in more than two generations.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka‘s president on Monday, vowing to change the island nation, which is emerging from its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades.

Dissanayake, who ran as head of the Marxist-leaning National People’s Power coalition, defeated opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and 36 other candidates in Saturday’s vote.

During his election campaign, Dissanayake challenged the established political order accused of corruption and mismanagement, which resonated deeply with millions of Sri Lankans. 

“We need to establish a new clean political culture,” he said during his swearing-in speech.

“I have said before that I am not a magician — I am an ordinary citizen. There are things I know and don’t know. My utmost objective is to gather those with the knowledge and skills to help lift this country.”

Sri Lanka’s close neighbors India, Pakistan, and the Maldives congratulated Dissanayake on his win, along with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said he looked forward to working together “to jointly carry forward our traditional friendship.”

Dissanayake: An outsider who rose to the presidency

The 55-year-old, popularly known as AKD, leads the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, which includes his party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), or People’s Liberation Front.

Dissanayake gained prominence as a student leader before becoming a part of JVP’s central committee in 1997. He later entered Parliament and became a cabinet minister in President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s government.

Dissanayake’s rise now is particularly remarkable, considering he received only 3% of the vote in the 2019 presidential election.

Saturday’s vote was the first since mass protests over shortages of essentials such as foods, medicines, cooking gas and fuel in 2022 forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.

Experts believe Dissanayake and his party seized this moment by pledging to transform the island’s political culture and dismantle its entrenched political dynasties.

“Although former President Ranil Wickremesinghe helped stabilize the country’s economy, people still view him as someone aligned with the Rajapaksa clan, who are accused of corruption and promoting family politics,” senior journalist and political science lecturer Amirthanayagam Nixon told DW.  

“Voters took this opportunity to completely remove them from power and give a new face a chance.”

Concerns have been raised about a completely new president taking the helm during such a critical period for the country.

Economic recovery challenges 

Dissanayake’s main challenge will be economic recovery. 

His election manifesto included plans to revisit the terms of Sri Lanka’s International Monetary Fund’s $2.9 billion (€2.6 billion) bailout, along with a commitment to cut taxes.

Sri Lanka: Left-wing lawmaker becomes next president

“Any adjustments to the IMF program must be with consideration to why it’s being done and if those adjustments help attain a better outcome than today,” Anushka Wijesinha, an economist and director of Colombo-based public policy think tank, Center for a Smart Future, told DW.

Wijesinha added that continuing the debt restructuring, which has almost reached the final step, should be Dissanayake’s key priority. 

“The new president has to maintain credibility and predictably with the bondholder group and the official creditor committee and get it over the finish line,” Wijesinha said.

“This will help move Sri Lanka out of default status and strengthen the new government’s hand in dealing with international lenders and move on with other policy priorities they may have.”

What other issues will Dissanayake face?

Apart from economic recovery, how Dissanayake handles the issues of Sri Lankan Tamils, the country’s largest ethnic minority that accounts for nearly 12% of the 22 million population, remains uncertain.

Historically, his JVP party has been seen as opposing Tamil interests, which led to fewer votes for him in the northern and eastern provinces, where the Tamil and Muslim populations are mainly concentrated.

“His party has engaged in anti-Tamil activities,” according to Siva Ramasamy, chief editor of the Thamilan newspaper, who claimed that the JVP played a key role in splitting the North and East provinces, which were once united.

Sri Lankan Tamils share deep social, cultural and linguistic ties with people in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and have been struggling to recover from decades of a civil war that lasted until 2009 and claimed around 100,000 lives.

How Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic crisis hit daily life

During Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic crisis, millions of people struggled to secure two square meals a day and afford critical medicines amid the nation’s acute economic turmoil.

Unaffordable rice

This woman from Wanathamulla, a neighborhood near the capital Colombo, is struggling to feed her three children and grandchild. Her husband left her after a cooking gas explosion left her injured. She has no steady income and tries to keep the family afloat by doing casual jobs. Even basic foodstuffs like rice have become almost unaffordable for millions of Sri Lankan families.

Protein deficiency

Nilanthi Gunasekera, 49, poses with a handful of dried fish. “Before the economic crisis, we ate well and we served meat or fish to our kids at least three or four times a week. Now fish is out of the reach of our family and so is meat,” she said.

How to start over?

Gamage Rupawathi (right), 60, used to have her own fruit shop in Colombo, which enabled her to provide well for herself, her husband (center) and her son (left). But due to the long lockdowns during the COVID pandemic, she had to close the shop. Now, amid the economic crisis, she lacks the money to reopen her business.

A cup of tea and two pieces of biscuit

On some days, this is the only meal for Gamage Rupawathi’s husband. More than a quarter of the island nation’s 22 million inhabitants currently have difficulty securing two square meals a day.

Rationed medication

Manel Peiris, a heart patient, is struggling to afford her medication. Earlier, the 68-year-old used to regularly receive three-month supplies of medicine from a public hospital. “Now we have to buy them from pharmacies, costing 3,400 rupees (€9.5, $9.5) a month, which I can’t afford. So I am only buying for a week at a time. Sometimes my husband has to borrow money or ask for a wage advance.”

Bathing at a public well

“We have a tap water connection but it’s very difficult to pay water and electricity bills, in addition to the rising costs of food. So now I bathe at a public well more often in order to save money,” said Sivaraja Sanjeewan, a 31-year-old auto-rickshaw driver.

‘Business is very difficult’

Priyani Dhammika, 53, makes so-called betel stacks to chew. They consist of crushed areca nuts wrapped in tobacco leaves. “Business is very difficult now,” she said. The price of the nuts has tripled and the leaves have become as much as eight times more expensive, she added.

What to cook with?

Since thieves stole their gas tank and stove, 62-year-old Vidyathipathige Nihal and his family have been forced to cook over an open fire. The demand for firewood has risen sharply due to the shortage of gas — as has the price.

No help from the state

This former soldier said he can no longer live on his veteran’s pension due to high inflation, and he’s not expecting government financial support. Sri Lanka secured a staff-level agreement for a $2.9 billion (€2.8 billion) bailout from the International Monetary Fund earlier this month, but “this is only the beginning of a long road out of the crisis for Sri Lanka,” said an IMF spokesman.

In a nation where the Sinhalese ethnic group makes up roughly three-quarters of the population, many Sri Lankan Tamils support the devolution of powers to the North and East, as well as reconciliation following the civil war. 

“JVP has never supported Tamils. Now, it’s unclear how Dissanayake, being from the same party, will address this issue,” Ramasamy told DW.

“The question is whether they are willing to implement the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution, which grants various powers to Tamil minorities,” he added, referring to what has been a long-standing demand from the Indian government.

However, Ramasamy doubts this will happen and believes that Buddhist nationalism may influence Dissanayake’s decisions.

Navigating international relations — India or China?

Experts say Dissanayake will face many challenges not only on the national front but also on the international stage.

Considered close to China, Dissanayake became known for fanning anti-Indian sentiments in the Indian Ocean Island. 

Dissanayake also opposed any investigations into alleged war crimes during the civil conflict between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Sri Lankan forces. 

More recently, he mentioned plans to cancel Indian business tycoon Gautam Adani’s 450 Megawatt (MW) power project in Sri Lanka if elected. He called the agreement corrupt and against the country’s interests.

“Sri Lanka cannot afford to make India an enemy at this juncture,” Nixon warned, pointing out that while other countries like China, the US, and the IMF have provided support, India was the first to extend a crucial lifeline to the island, with over $4 billion in assistance.