Photo : Collected
Sri Lanka's first leftist president will be sworn into office Monday after simmering public anger over the island nation's unprecedented economic crisis propelled him to a landslide poll win.
Self-avowed Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, of the People's Liberation Front (JVP), won nearly 1.3 million more votes than his nearest rival.
The previously fringe politician -- whose party led two failed uprisings that left tens of thousands dead -- saw a surge of support after the country's 2022 economic meltdown forced painful hardships on ordinary Sri Lankans.
Dissanayaka, 55, said on Sunday that his victory had been "paved by the sacrifices of so many who gave their sweat, tears and even their lives for this cause".
"Together, we stand ready to rewrite Sri Lankan history," he added.
Dissanayaka was due to be sworn in at 10:00 am (0430 GMT) at the colonial-era President Secretariat in Colombo, election commission officials said.
Shortly before the ceremony, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena resigned, clearing the way for Dissanayaka to appoint his own cabinet.
Dissanayaka's party has said he wants to have his own cabinet until a fresh parliament is elected later this year. His JVP party has only three members in the 225-member parliament.
Dissanayaka will succeed outgoing president Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office at the peak of the financial crisis following the government's first-ever foreign debt default and months of punishing food, fuel and medicine shortages.
Wickremesinghe, 75, imposed steep tax hikes and other austerity measures per the terms of an International Monetary Fund bailout.
His policies ended the shortages and returned the economy to growth but left millions struggling to make ends meet.
"I can confidently say that I did my best to stabilise the country during one of its darkest periods," he said in a statement after placing a distant third in Saturday's poll.
Dissanayaka has vowed to press ahead with the IMF rescue package negotiated by his predecessor last year but modify its terms in order to deliver tax cuts.
"It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate," Bimal Ratnayake, a senior member of Dissanayaka's party, told AFP.
Messenger/Disha
