The coalition of the first left-wing president in the history of Sri Lanka, elected in September, is advancing towards a landslide victory in the legislative elections on Friday, November 15, according to partial results, a result expected by the Head of State. carry out its reforms in a country in economic crisis.
The PNP, led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, dominated the vote with 63% of the votes, according to partial results published by the electoral commission and which cover more than half of the votes.
The left-wing PNP coalition, led by the president’s party, the Marxist-inspired People’s Liberation Front (JVP), is leading in almost all electoral districts, although it had only three of the 225 seats in the outgoing Parliament.
A Marxist by training but widely converted to the market economy since then, Dissanayake, 55, was elected in September at the head of a country exhausted by the worst economic crisis in its history and a brutal austerity cure. His promises to reduce taxes on basic needs and root out corruption have ensured him wide support from voters.
“We believe that these elections are crucial and will mark a turning point for the country”Dissanayake told reporters while voting in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital. “The PNP expects from these elections a clear mandate and a strong majority in Parliament”he added.
An early vote without major incidents
Supervised by more than 80,000 police officers, early voting took place without major incidents. The counting of the votes of the 17 million registered voters began on Thursday after the closing of the polling stations at 4:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. Paris time).
All analysts predicted a great victory for the presidential field against divided adversaries. “The opposition is dead”estimated analyst Kusal Perera. “The result of the vote is a closed case: the PNP will form the next government. »
Although her party maintained the communist hammer and sickle as its emblem, Anura Kumara Dissanayake campaigned with unexpected support from business circles. Once concerned, businessmen and businessmen felt reassured by their decision not to throw overboard the agreement reached in 2023 with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to try to get the country back on track.
Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed in 2022, forcing its government to default on its public debt, then estimated at $46 billion (€42 billion). The following weeks of popular protests against shortages and inflation led to the fall of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July 2022. In exchange for $2.9 billion in aid from the IMF, his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe increased the tax increases and public spending cuts.
In a context of fragile economic improvement, Dissanayake expressed his desire to renegotiate some of the clauses of this agreement.
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The IMF has started talks on “alternative approaches” defended by Mr. Dissanayake but also recalled the need to “protect and develop” the efforts made.
