Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sri Lanka's recently elected president, dissolved the legislature and announced early elections for Tuesday at midnight, citing the need to fight corruption and renegotiate a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Dissanayake announced in the special gazette that the parliamentary election would take place on November 14 and that the new legislature will meet on November 21. The constitution stated that elections were first anticipated by the middle of 2025. In addition to overseeing many cabinet positions, the president has the power to dissolve the legislature and call early elections.
In the presidential election held on September 21, 55-year-old socialist political outsider Dissanayake became victorious. After he won, the political establishment in Sri Lanka came under heavy fire from the voters for their role in the country's disastrous economic collapse two years prior.
With 5.74 million votes total over two rounds of counting, Dissanayake, also known as AKD, defeated opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who oversaw the IMF loan package, in the nation's first-ever runoff election.
On Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. local time, the President is scheduled to give a speech to the country in which he will present his priorities and future plans.
Dissanayake was crucial in the 2022 coup of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the leader of the National People's Power (NPP), a coalition of left-wing political factions supported by demonstrators. Before the NPP was dissolved, only three of the 225 lawmakers in the legislature were members of it.
It is believed that his abrupt declaration of parliamentary elections following his victory was a tactic to fulfill his campaign promises and increase his party's representation in the legislature.
Suhini Fernando, CEO of Reliance Capital, remarked, “They need to have a solid plan to secure a parliamentary majority, to do anything. If not, they will have a problem.” She emphasized the necessity for a robust economic plan to attract investment in Sri Lanka.
Following Dissanayake's election, the value of dollar bonds due in March 2029 jumped by 1.7 cents to 53.5 cents on the dollar. Furthermore, the All Share Index of the Colombo Stock Exchange increased for the seventh day in a row, increasing its overall gains from a recent low on September 12 to over 8%.
On Tuesday, Dissanayake appointed Harini Amarasuriya from his coalition as the new prime minister and established a three-member cabinet that includes himself and members from his party. This came after the resignation of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, which effectively dissolved the previous cabinet.
The newly established interim cabinet will oversee the government and can allocate monies from the 2024 budget for state activities until the elections are held. Sri Lanka typically releases its federal budget at the conclusion of the fiscal year.
Following its association with violent Marxist uprisings throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Dissanayake's party has subsequently repudiated such actions. In his inaugural speech, he pledged to protect democracy and stated, "We have a very challenging country." We must be clearer with our policies. People declared, "People expect a cleaner culture," and "We are ready to commit to that."
