Marxist leader Dissanayake wins Lanka Prez polls

Colombo: Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday was declared winner of the Sri Lankan presidential election by country's Election Commission after an unprecedented second round of counting of votes. Dissanayake, 56, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People's Power, defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya.

Incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe was eliminated in the first round after he failed to become within the top two in the vote list. NPP said Dissanayake will take oath on Monday. He will be the 9th President of the island nation. After being defeated in the election, Wickremesinghe bid an emotional farewell to his 26-month tenure, marking the end of his presidency.

Addressing president-elect Dissanayake in a statement, the 75-year-old outgoing president said, “President Anura Dissanayake, I am handing over to your care the lovable child of Sri Lanka.” He said that over the last two years he has safely carried the Sri Lanka child on the vine bridge, and "I wish that under your care as the new president, the child is carried safely to the end of his destination".

The election on Saturday was the first to be held since mass protests unseated Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 after the country suffered an economic crisis. Earlier, the Election Commission ordered a second round of counting after no candidate secured over 50 per cent votes needed to be declared the winner of Saturday's election. In the first round of counting, Dissanayake topped the chart by securing 5.63 million votes or 42.31 per cent, followed by Opposition leader Premadasa with 4.36 million votes or 32.8 per cent and Wickremesinghe getting only 2.29 million votes or 17.27 per cent of the total votes polled.

No election in Sri Lanka has ever progressed to the second round of counting, as single candidates have always emerged as clear winners based on first-preference votes. The accession of Dissanayake, who is popularly known as AKD, to the top post is a remarkable turnaround for his half-century-old party JVP, which had long remained on the margins. He is Sri Lanka's first-ever Marxist party leader to become head of state. Dissanayake's anti-corruption message and his promise of a change in political culture resonated strongly with young voters who have been demanding system change since the economic crisis.