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fullscreen Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a Marxist-inspired coalition leader from the People’s Power alliance, is Sri Lanka’s new president. Photo taken in connection with Monday’s ceremony in Colombo. Photo: Sri Lanka’s Presidential Office Via AP/TT
Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president following this weekend’s election.
The 55-year-old promises to restore the people’s trust in the country’s severely crisis-stricken institutions.
In connection with a ceremony on Monday, Dissanayake points out that a “collective effort” is required to get the economically troubled Sri Lanka on the right track.
– I’m not a wizard, I’m not a magician, I’m an ordinary citizen, he says.
Dissanayake succeeds Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose harsh tax hikes boosted the economy but pushed millions of Sri Lankans into poverty. The president before him, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was forced to flee the country after widespread protests against the meager, Christian living conditions that prevailed in the country following economic mismanagement and decline during the pandemic.
India and China – Sri Lanka’s closest neighbor and largest creditor respectively – compete for influence in the country, not least because of the island nation’s strategic location in the middle of the East-West trade route.
After Dissanayake’s election victory, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he hopes for stronger cooperation with Sri Lanka “for the good of our people and our region”. China’s Xi Jinping, for his part, hopes to “continue our ancient friendship and strengthen mutual political trust”.