Immediately after taking office, Sri Lanka’s new left-wing president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, dissolved parliament on Tuesday 24 September, called early parliamentary elections in November and appointed a caretaker government.
A trained Marxist but largely converted to market economics, Dissanayake, 55, was largely elected on Saturday, two years after the severe economic crisis forced his country into a brutal and unpopular austerity regime.
As promised, he dissolved parliament and set November 14 as the date for early legislative elections, almost a year before the end of the current term. According to the announcement published this afternoon in the government’s official newspaper, the new parliament will hold its first session on November 21. The presidency also announced that Dissanayake would address the country on Wednesday evening.
Earlier on Tuesday, the president appointed Harini Amarasuriya, 54, one of only three lawmakers from his Marxist-leaning People’s Liberation Front (JVP) party to the 225-seat parliament elected in 2020. A university professor, deeply committed to defending minority rights and gender equality, the new head of the caretaker government has also inherited the portfolios of Justice, Education, Health and Labor.
The second JVP MP, Vijitha Herath, has been appointed as the head of Foreign Affairs and Public Security. As for the President, he will be in charge of the current affairs of the Ministries of Defence, Energy and Agriculture until the parliamentary elections. “It is the smallest government in Sri Lanka’s history”A JVP leader, Namal Karunaratne, had fun in front of the press.
Serious economic crisis
Two years ago, Sri Lanka experienced the most serious economic crisis in its history, forcing it to default on its public debt, then valued at $46 billion. Weeks of popular protests against shortages and inflation led to the fall of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July 2022.
In exchange for a $2.9 billion (€2.6 billion) bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2023, his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe increased tax increases and cuts in public spending. The country’s economy has since recovered somewhat, but remains fragile, according to the IMF. But this regime has fuelled anger among many Sri Lankans.
During his campaign, Dissanayake saw his popularity soar as he denounced the elites. “corrupt” responsible for the 2022 bankruptcy, according to him, and by promising to lower taxes on basic necessities. Even before his victory was announced, he confirmed that he wanted to renegotiate the agreement signed with the IMF.
The financial institution said on Monday it was willing to discuss it with him. “We look forward to working soon with President Dissanayake and his team to confirm the progress that is already difficult to achieve.”declared one of its spokespersons.
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The new parliament must therefore approve a debt restructuring agreement announced last week. This agreement provides for a 27% haircut on the 12.5 billion euros of sovereign bonds held by the country’s private creditors. Anura Kumara Dissanayake has not hidden the difficulties that await him. “I am fully aware of the importance of the mandate I received”he said Monday during his inauguration speech. “I’m not a magician (…) I will do my best”.
