Explained: Why is Sri Lankan Parliamentary election key for new Marxist-leaning president Anura Dissanayake?
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake seeks a fresh mandate in Parliament to promote his welfare policies and renegotiate terms under the IMF bailout programme.
Sri Lankans began voting on Thursday in a snap Parliamentary election, widely seen as an attempt by new Leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to seek a clear mandate to push his pro-poor welfare policies.
The main Opposition to Dissanayake's National People's Power (NPP) coalition is Sajith Premadasa's Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party, which favours a mix of state intervention and free market economic policies.
The island nation of 22 million people is recovering from a financial meltdown in 2022 that caused the economy to shrink by 7.3% in 2022 and 2.3% in 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the economic crisis amid a shortfall of foreign currency caused by the country's fall in exports and reduced inflow of foreign remittances.
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The country has been recovering with help from the IMF's $2.9 billion bailout programme, but the high costs of living remain a pressing issue for the country, especially the poor.
Dissanayake, 55, was elected president in the September presidential elections. His NPP coalition secured the presidency with almost 43% of the popular vote against his nearest rival, Sajith Premadasa, who secured only 32.76% of the votes.
The country follows a proportional representation system in the 225-member parliament to ensure a balanced representation of political parties. A failure to gain 50% or more votes left Dissanayake short of a parliamentary majority, crucial to push his reform agenda.
The Marxist leader wants to promote anti-poverty policies, including bigger welfare schemes for the poor, and fight corruption as an “outsider” in Colombo's traditional power circles, which political families dominate.
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Dissanayake also aims to tweak the IMF bailout programme to reduce high-income taxes and invest in welfare measures. His new government is also under pressure to deliver a primary surplus of 2.3% of GDP in the new budget, an IMF target. Analysts worry that a clear mandate to the president could strengthen his cause to renegotiate the bailout, leading to delays in future disbursements.
“In past elections, people did not have confidence in us but in September people gave us victory and proved that we are a winning party and we can form a government. The next task is to unite people from the four corners of this country and build a powerful people's movement,” said Dissanayake on Sunday during a poll campaign.
Speaking to Reuters, Umeshi Perera, 32, a citizen from Biyagama in Colombo, said, “I think we are seeing the first signs of a positive political change in Sri Lanka after the president was elected, and we should give him a chance to continue that change.”
Dissanayake's NPP was founded in 2019, and many of its candidates are newcomers to the country's politics.
Of the 225 seats in parliament, 196 are up for election on Thursday, while the remaining 29 seats—called the national list seats—are allocated to parties and independent groups according to the proportion of the total votes they receive nationwide.
A total of 8,821 candidates are contesting Thursday's election. Votes will be counted soon after polling and the results are expected to be announced on Friday.
(With agency inputs)