Page 12 - Sri Lanka

Dissanayake's push for Sri Lanka economic change leaves IMF deal in limbo

Adding to the challenge, the prime minister's resignation on Monday meant the cabinet has been dissolved

IMF to start talks with new Lanka government led by President Dissanayake

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said it will discuss the timing of the next review of Sri Lanka's loan programme and looks forward to working with the new government headed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. We look forward to working together with President Dissanayake and his team towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery since entering one of its worst economic crises in 2022," the Washington-based lender said in a statement. Former president Ranil Wickremesinghe-led government was negotiating with the IMF for the release of the third tranche of the USD 2.9 billion facility when the presidential election was announced in July. The disbursement of around USD 360 million was anticipated after the third review which the IMF put on hold until the end of the election held last weekend. We will discuss the timing of the third review of the IMF-supported programme with the new administration as soon as ...

Best of BS Opinion: A shift down south, Advantage India and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Sri Lanka's leftist President Dissanayake takes office as IMF worries grow

Dissanayake, 55, defeated opposition leader Sajith Premadasa after two rounds of counting in the country's first-ever runoff, sweeping Ranil Wickremesinghe, the previous president out of power

A shift down south: Sri Lanka's presidential election breaks new ground

The question is whether Mr Dissanayake will run the country the same way he positioned his campaign: As an outside insurgent

Inspired by Che: Who is new Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake?

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a Marxist-leaning politician, has been sworn in as Sri Lanka's new President. Who is he? Why did he join politics? How does he view India? All your questions answered

Congress congratulates Sri Lanka President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake

The Congress on Monday congratulated Anura Kumara Dissanayake for his victory in the Sri Lankan presidential elections, and said the people of India look forward to strengthening ties and shared values for the benefit of the region. Marxist leader Dissanayake was declared the winner of the Sri Lankan presidential election by the country's Election Commission after an unprecedented second round of counting of votes. Dissanayake, 56, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People's Power (NPP), defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "On the behalf of the Indian National Congress, I extend my heartiest congratulations to Anura Kumara Dissanayake on being elected the Executive President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka." India and Sri Lanka have a rich legacy of multi-faceted cooperation and interaction, which dates back centuries, he said in

Sri Lanka's new President Dissanayake pledges to clean public life

Sri Lanka's new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday vowed to preserve democracy and do everything to clean public life. The remarks by Dissanayake, 56, came as he was sworn in as Sri Lanka's ninth president on Monday by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at the Presidential Secretariat. In his inaugural address to the nation, Dissanayake thanked his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe for respecting the people's mandate and facilitating a peaceful transfer of power. I assure you that I will do my best to preserve democracy and work towards restoring the honour of politicians as people have misgivings about their conduct," Dissanayake said in an address after taking the oath. Dissanayake stressed Sri Lanka cannot remain in isolation and needed international cooperation. He said he is not a magician, but his objective is to be part of a collective responsibility to elevate the economic crisis-stricken country. I'm not a magician. I'm an ordinary citizen born in this country. I

Marxist leaning leader Anura Dissanayake wins Sri Lanka presidential polls

Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday was declared winner of the Sri Lankan presidential election by the country's Election Commission after an unprecedented second round of counting of votes. Dissanayake, 56, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People's Power (NPP), defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). Incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe was eliminated in the first round after he failed to become within the top two in the vote list. NPP said Dissanayake will take oath on Monday. Earlier, the Election Commission ordered a second round of counting after no candidate secured over 50 per cent votes needed to be declared the winner of Saturday's election. Dissanayake will be the country's 9th president. No election in Sri Lanka has ever progressed to the second round of counting, as single candidates have always emerged as clear winners based on first-preference votes.

Sri Lanka prez poll heads to round 2 of counting for first time in history

In a historic first, Sri Lanka's presidential election on Sunday went into a second round of counting after no candidate secured over 50 per cent vote needed to be declared the winner. As per the election results, Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People's Power (NPP) topped in the first round of counting by securing 5.63 million votes or 42.31 per cent, followed by Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) with 4.36 million votes or 32.8 per cent of the total polled. Incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe polled only 2.29 million votes or 17.27 per cent. Election Commission Chairman R M A L Rathnayake said though Dissanayake and Premadasa have secured maximum votes in the 2024 presidential election, neither of them has secured more than 50 per cent votes, so the second preference votes are being counted and added to these two candidates. President Wickremesinghe was eliminated in the first ro

Dissanayaka leads in Sri Lanka's presidential vote defeating Premsada

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Marxist JVP's broader front National People's Power (NPP), has consolidated his lead to be declared the winner in just concluded Sri Lanka's crucial presidential election. On Saturday, Sri Lankans voted to elect a new president for the first election since the economic meltdown in 2022. The voter turnout in the presidential election was around 75 per cent. Lower than the 83 per cent polled in the previous presidential election held in November 2019. In the cumulative vote count declared by 7 am on Sunday, 56-year-old Dissanayake amassed 727,000 votes or 52 per cent against his nearest rival 57-year-old Sajith Premadasa, the main opposition leader who received 333,000 votes at 23 per cent. The incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, 75, was trailing way behind with 235,000 votes at 16 per cent. Dissanayake won 21 of the 22 postal district votes while bagging several results declared thus far from the 168 geographical parliamentary seats from ...

Polling begins in Sri Lanka, island nation to elect next president

Polls opened on Saturday in Sri Lanka's crucial presidential election -- the island nation's first major electoral exercise since its worst economic meltdown in 2022. Some 17 million people are eligible to vote at over 13,400 polling stations. Over 200,000 officials have been deployed to conduct the election which will be guarded by 63,000 police personnel. Voting started at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm. Results are expected by Sunday. Voters will choose among 38 presidential candidates. Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 75, is seeking re-election for a five-year term as an Independent candidate, riding on the success of his efforts to pull the country out of the economic crisis, which many experts hailed as one of the quickest recoveries in the world. The three-cornered electoral battle will see Wickremesinghe facing stiff competition from Anura Kumara Dissanayake, 56, of the National People's Power (NPP), and Sajith Premadasa, 57, of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) a

India less of an issue in Sri Lankan election, local factors predominate

"For Sri Lankans, this election is a way of overcoming the trauma of the economic hardship they have just been through, a way of speaking out. … India is not a factor."

How some nations manage upheavals successfully and others go to pieces

The Sri Lankan transition was smoothly managed. Check Bangladesh for contrast. They forced their incumbent into exile, and installed a mostly unelectable govt of non-political people

For Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils, election does not offer hope

Traditionally, Tamils have voted for Tamil parties which are active in northern Sri Lanka

Ahead of new election, many in Sri Lanka still waiting for change

Two years ago, tens of thousands of Sri Lankans rose up against their president and forced him to flee the country. As the country prepares for its first election since then, many say they're still waiting for change. As Sri Lanka sank into economic collapse in 2022, people from various walks of life rallied to change a long-entrenched government they saw as responsible. The unprecedented island-wide public uprising they led was a moment of hope for the country long been fatigued by war and economic instability. Days ahead of Saturday's presidential election, many still complain of corrupt leaders, economic mismanagement, and the entrenched power of the political old guard, but former protesters are having a hard time coming together behind a candidate. They agree on one thing: Sri Lanka needs a new political system that can take it out of economic and political turbulence. Days after Rajapaksa fled the country, Sri Lanka's parliament replaced him with then-prime minister Ranil ...

Sri Lankans seek change but stability crucial amid economic uncertainty

Sri Lanka's new leaders must demonstrate they are more responsible than the old guard they revile

Sri Lanka's workers live on margins, politicians still want their votes

Whoever Sri Lanka's next president is, Muthuthevarkittan Manohari isn't expecting much to change in her daily struggle to feed the four children and elderly mother with whom she lives in a dilapidated room in a tea plantation. Both leading candidates in Saturday's presidential election are promising to give land to the country's hundreds of thousands of plantation workers, but Manohari says she's heard it all before. Sri Lanka's plantation workers are a long-marginalised group who frequently live in dire poverty, but they can swing elections by voting as a bloc. Mahohari and her family are descended from Indian indentured labourers who were brought in by the British during colonial rule to work on plantations that grew first coffee, and later tea and rubber. Those crops are still Sri Lanka's leading foreign exchange earners. For 200 years, the community has lived on the margins of Sri Lankan society. Soon after the country became independent in 1948, the new government stripped them

Sri Lanka's JVP vows to cancel Adani wind energy project if elected

The Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) on Monday vowed to cancel the Adani Group's wind power project in Sri Lanka if it gets elected in the presidential election scheduled for the weekend. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the presidential candidate from the broader front National People's Power (NPP), told a political chat show here that they would annul the project. Asked if the project posed a threat to the island nation's energy sector sovereignty, Dissanayake said: Yes. We will definitely cancel it as it threatens our energy sovereignty." The JVP, which led a bloody anti-India rebellion in the island nation between 1987 and 1990 following India's direct intervention in the Lankan civil war through the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord, is believed to be leading in the unofficial polls ahead of the September 21 election. The JVP dubbed the Indo-Lanka Accord a betrayal of the nation and killed the then-ruling party members, supporters and other political activists who supported t

Rajapaksa heir running for prez even after Lankans' ousted powerful clan

When an uprising ousted Sri Lanka's president, many saw it as the end of his powerful family's hold on the island nation after more than 12 years of rule. Now, as Sri Lanka prepares to elect a new leader, Namal Rajapaksa is running for president. The 38-year-old is the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the nephew of the ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Namal Rajapaksa is presenting himself as an agent of change, but many see his bid for presidency as an attempt by the controversial political dynasty to regain power. By mid-2022, the clan's political career seemed in ruins. Some of its members were forced into hiding in military camps after angry protesters stormed their residences. Others simply gave up their seats in the government as people blamed them for hurtling the country of more than 20 million people into an economic crisis. Two years later, the family shunned and pushed to political wilderness is trying make a comeback via the Rajapaksa heir apparent who