Sri Lanka erupts

[yield]

Sri Lanka's Dissanayake and Premadasa head to presidential race runoff
Reuters September 22, 2024

COLOMBO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa headed to a run-off for Sri Lanka's presidency on Sunday, the election body said, with a second round of counting to determine the winner using preferential votes.

It is the first time in Sri Lanka's history that the presidential race is to be decided by a second round of counting after the top two candidates failed to win the mandatory 50% of votes to be declared winner.

All remaining candidates, including incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, have been disqualified, the Election Commission told reporters. Dissanayake polled 39.5% of the counted ballots with Premadasa finishing second at 34%.

Wickremesinghe, who led the heavily indebted nation's fragile economic recovery from a debilitating crisis in 2022, trailed in third with 17%.

This is Sri Lanka's first election since the Indian Ocean nation's economy buckled in 2022 under a severe foreign exchange shortage, leaving it unable to pay for imports of essentials including fuel, medicine and cooking gas. Protests forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and later resign.

"The election result clearly shows the uprising that we witnessed in 2022 is not over," said Pradeep Peiris, a political scientist at University of Colombo.

Can anyone recommend any good articles or books on Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war?

 

[planetgeli]

And Dissanayake has won. A Marxist, according to the Guardian.

Sri Lankan leftist candidate Dissanayake claims presidential election

Second-round victory viewed as widespread rejection of the old political elite amid economic crisis

www.theguardian.com

 

[JimW]

And Dissanayake has won. A Marxist, according to the Guardian.

Sri Lankan leftist candidate Dissanayake claims presidential election

Second-round victory viewed as widespread rejection of the old political elite amid economic crisis

www.theguardian.com

That's how the AP has him too, "pro-working class and anti-political elite campaigning" even.

Marxist Dissanayake wins Sri Lanka's presidential election as voters reject old guard

The election held Saturday is crucial as the country seeks to recover from the worst economic crisis in its history and the resulting political upheaval.

apnews.com

Wonder how long until he either disappoints or the CIA gets to work?

 

[planetgeli]

Wonder how long until he either disappoints or the CIA gets to work?

IMF.

 

[hitmouse]

Huge win for the NPP in new Parliamentary elections this week:

Sri Lanka: Left-leaning leader's coalition secures landslide victory

The parliamentary majority will allow Anura Kumara Dissanayake to consolidate power and advance reforms.

www.bbc.co.uk

Not an area I know a huge amount about, but here's something from Counterpunch:

Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power Sweeps General Election

On October 15, data from the Election Commission of Sri Lanka showed that the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition scored a decisive victory in Sri

www.counterpunch.org