The Marxism-leaning chief of the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who led the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, has been sworn in as the new President of Sri Lanka. In an election fought largely around issues such as a broken economy (empty coffers, shortages, price rise and unemployment), the $3 billion IMF debt, and corruption of traditional parties, Dissanayake represents a break from the past. He rode the wave of a mass uprising which uprooted the established parties and resulted in the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his clan two years ago.

The unprecedented support Dissanayake was able to muster with strong, anti-corruption stance during the run-up to the elections has resulted in his party, the JVP, wresting about 42 per cent of the vote share. It is a remarkable turnaround for the JVP which was able to muster just about 3.2 per cent of the vote share in the 2019 presidential election. This has clearly been an election where issues of the past, of ethnic strife, no longer divided the electorate. It remained focused on aspects of the economic crisis — a bankrupt sovereign, the unprecedented burden put on the poor by IMF loan conditions and harsh taxes as also large-scale corruption which had plagued traditional parties in Sri Lanka.

For now, the new President has promised a fresh start. What this entails is the NPP and JVP’s poll promise to renegotiate Sri Lanka’s ongoing programme with the IMF which has led to difficult austerity measures. Dissanayake’s negotiating skills on an international platform will be tested. Another major challenge for him would be to balance the planks of his political ideology rooted in state socialism with prescriptions of the IMF, which lean towards market deregulation and trade liberalisation. Dissanayake’s instincts might widen the government deficit. However, it is heartening that the NPP’s manifesto suggests no extreme ideological pitch. Dissanayake has argued that his welfare programme will cost much less than what others have proposed.

On the rhetorical question of whether, owing to his leftist leanings, the new Sri Lankan President would go closer to China, he has so far made the right noises. Besides his much-publicised visit to India earlier this year, he has on several occasions stressed on the need to work with India which has extended multi-pronged assistance of over $4 billion, besides critical private investment. As for the crucial issue of both India and China exercising strategic influence in the region, Dissanayake’s party manifesto seems reassuring. It mentions that no part of Sri Lanka’s territory would be allowed to “threaten or risk the national security of any country in the region including India”. It is to be hoped that the JVP will not overtly project Sinhala nationalism as its calling card. Indeed, Dissanayake has inherited huge challenges on political, economic and strategic fronts. An inclusive, pragmatic approach would be the best way forward.

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