Marxist leader Anura Kumara Disanayakke emerged winner in Sri Lanka’s presidential race on Sunday (September 22, 2024), obtaining a mandate that signals a clean break from the island nation’s political establishment and ushers in unprecedented change.
Mr. Dissanayake was officially declared President-elect by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka after it completed a second count of votes to add preference votes, an exercise undertaken for the first time in the country’s election history.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was in USA, congratulated the new President on X through a tweet. “Congratulations Auura Disanayakke on your victory in the Sri Lankan Presidential Elections”, he wrote on X.
Dissanayake thanked PM Modi for showering kind words and support.
Dissanayake is expected to be sworn in Monday at Colombo’s colonial-era Presidential Secretariat. His rise to power signals a rejection of the political establishment blamed for the country’s economic downfall. The victory also represents a major turnaround for the JVP, which had received just over 3 per cent of the vote in the 2019 presidential election.
The election, held on Saturday, saw a voter turnout of 76 per cent, with 17 million Sri Lankans eligible to cast their ballots.
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