New dawn in Lanka
PEOPLE of Sri Lanka have emphatically empowered leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to go ahead with his pro-poor and anti-corruption reforms. The National People’s Power coalition, led by his Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party, has recorded a big win in the parliamentary elections. The strong mandate comes with great expectations: Dissanayake’s prime task would be to spearhead a robust recovery from the 2022 economic crisis that had brought the island nation to its knees.
The writing was on the wall after Dissanayake triumphed in the presidential poll in September. Sensing the winds of change, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe did not contest the parliamentary polls for the first time in decades. The once-mighty Rajapaksa brothers also did not enter the fray. Both the Wickremesinghe-backed New Democratic Front and the Rajapaksa family’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party have suffered an electoral debacle as voters have made a clean break from the country’s longstanding tradition of dynastic politics. Having gained the confidence of the people, Dissanayake cannot afford to put a foot wrong. The civil society protests in early 2022, locally known as the ‘Aragalaya’, had showcased the massive anger against the arrogance of the Rajapaksa brothers, who had taken almost total control over the levers of government at the time. A lot depends on how the President handles the IMF’s $2.9-billion bailout programme that has kept Lanka afloat on the fiscal front.
Regarded as pro-China, Dissanayake would be well advised not to put all his eggs in the Beijing basket. He needs to build strong ties with India, a friendly neighbour which has come to Lanka’s rescue time and again. His tough stance against Indian fishermen illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters may not be music to New Delhi’s ears, but his assurance to Tamils that their land occupied by the government would be returned seems to have struck a chord with the minority community. It is hoped that Dissanayake will do a deft tightrope walk to safeguard his country’s strategic and economic interests.
