COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, September 23, 2024 (AP) — Marxist politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s president on Monday after an election that saw voters reject an old guard accused of leading the country into economic crisis.
Dissanayake, 55, who ran as head of the Marxist-leaning National People’s Power coalition, defeated President Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and 35 other candidates in Saturday’s election.
The election came as the country seeks to recover from a severe economic crisis that led to shortages of essentials such as foods, medicines, cooking gas and fuel in 2022, triggering massive protests that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.
In a brief speech after the swearing-in, Dissanayake pledged to work with others to take on the country’s challenges.
“We have deeply understood that we are going to get a challenging country,” Dissanayake said. “We don’t believe that a government, a single party or an individual would be able to resolve this deep crisis.
He’s the ninth person to hold Sri Lanka’s powerful executive presidency, created in 1978 when a new constitution expanded the office’s powers.
