Sri Lanka’s new President appoints Chinese-educated defence secretary

Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka appointed retired Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, who had got his higher education in China, as the new defence secretary replacing an ex-army general.

Thuyacontha has completed his Master’s degree in Defence Studies at the National Defence University of China. He had also served as the former Defence Advisor at the Sri Lankan High Commission in Pakistan.

He has also served as the former commanding officer of the Chinese Harbour Air Force College.

Defence Secretary post is once of the important portfolio in the island nation as it deals with a geopolitical cold war due to Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean.

India has raised increasing concerns with successive Sri Lankan government on Chinese vessels coming to Sri Lankan shores. The last administration under former president Ranil Wickremsinghe banned Chinese vessels coming to the island nation for research purposes due to strong security concerns raised by India.

President Dissanaya’s Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has maintained a strong anti-Indian sentiment and opposed key Indian projects in Sri Lanka.

Thuyacontha succeeds former army general Kamal Gunaratne, who held the defence secretary post since 2019 after being appointed by former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

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Provincial governors start tendering their resignations

Two provincial governors tendered their resignations following the announcement of Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s victory at the presidential election.

Southern province’s Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and Maheepala Herath of northcentral province resigned yesterday (22).

Other governors are expected to follow suit today, according to political sources.

Xi says wants to deepen BRI cooperation with Sri Lanka under new leader

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said he hoped to broaden cooperation with Sri Lanka under his Belt and Road infrastructure initiative (BRI) as he congratulated the island nation’s new leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka.

Dissanayaka, a self-avowed Marxist, took his oath at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on Monday, vowing to restore public faith in politics.

The country is emerging from a years-long economic collapse blamed partly on struggling high-debt Chinese mega-projects coordinated through the BRI, the massive infrastructure project that is a central pillar of Xi’s bid to expand his country’s clout overseas.

“I attach great importance to the development of China-Sri Lanka relations and am willing to work with Mr. President to continue our traditional friendship (and) enhance mutual political trust,” Xi said in a message to Dissanayaka, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Xi said he hoped bilateral cooperation under his flagship BRI would “bear more fruit”, CCTV added.

He said Beijing would “promote the steady progress of sincere mutual assistance between China and Sri Lanka as well as our age-old strategic cooperative partnership, and create more benefits for the peoples of both countries”.

Western critics accuse China of using the BRI to enmesh developing nations in unsustainable debt to exert diplomatic leverage over them or even seize their assets.

But a chorus of leaders — as well as research by leading global think tanks like London’s Chatham House — have refuted the “debt trap” theory.

In December 2017, unable to repay a huge Chinese loan, Sri Lanka handed its Hambantota port in the south of the island to a Beijing company on a 99-year lease for $1.12 billion.

And the country defaulted on its foreign borrowings in 2022 during a crisis that caused months of food, fuel and medicine shortages.

China is the nation’s largest bilateral creditor, its loans accounting for $4.66 billion of the $10.58 billion that Sri Lanka has borrowed from other countries.

Last year, the International Monetary Fund — the international lender of last resort — approved a $2.9 billion bailout loan for Sri Lanka. Beijing also agreed to restructure its loans to the country.

And this month, Sri Lanka secured a deal with international bondholders to finalise a prolonged debt restructuring.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake sworn in as President of Sri Lanka

Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been sworn in as the 9th Executive of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, a short while ago.

He was ceremonially sworn in as the country’s new President before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.

The swearing in ceremony commenced following Dissanayake’s arrival at the Presidential Secretariat with a large number of party supporters and well-wishers gathered outside to welcome him.

After taking oath as the new President in a simple ceremony, Dissanayake delivered a brief statement emphasizing his commitment to the nation and the citizens of Sri Lanka.

The Election Commission declared 56-year-old Anura Kumara Dissanayake the winner last night after the second round of counting.

Dissanayake created history on Sunday by winning the Sri Lankan presidential election. Sri Lanka’s Election Commission declared him the winner after the second round of counting. Dissanayake defeated Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), his closest rival.

In the presidential election held on Saturday, no candidate got more than the required 50% votes in the first round of counting. Due to this, the Election Commission ordered a second round of counting, in which National People’s Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake won.

Popularly known as “AKD” in Sri Lanka, Dissanayake became Sri Lanka’s first President elected in a run-off. His party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was on the margins for a long time, but this victory has given a new identity to the party.

The rise of the party under Dissanayake’s leadership has been based on demands for anti-corruption and change in political culture.

Dissanayake hails from rural Thambuttegama in the North Central Province and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kelaniya in suburban Colombo.

He joined the JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) in 1987, when the anti-Indian insurgency was at its peak. Throughout his political career, he has fought against corruption and for people’s rights.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s victory represents a major shift in Sri Lanka’s political landscape. His rise to the presidency, especially at a time of economic and political challenges in the country, shows that the public is looking for a new leadership style and political vision.

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Hard road ahead for Sri Lanka’s President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake By P.K.Balachandran

The result of the Ninth Sri Lankan Presidential election uncannily followed a pattern that had unfolded in other countries in South Asia recently.

Seemingly strong and well-entrenched leaders suffered humiliation at the hands of weaker opponents.

In June, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to achieve the target of 400 plus seats in a House of 543 members, even as the mainstream media blared that he would sweep. His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to a get a majority on its own and had to depended on crutches provided by two allies to form a government.

In August, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, an iron lady credited with putting the country on the economic fast track, was ousted and driven out of the country by a university students-led mass movement. Her winning the January 2024 parliamentary elections with a thumping majority was to no avail.

And now in Sri Lanka, experienced politician and administrator President Ranil Wickremesinghe, was mauled by a political greenhorn, Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National Peoples’ Power (NPP) in the September 21 Presidential election.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake won with 42% of the vote, Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) came second with 32%. Wickremesighe got only 17.2%.

Toiling under trying local and global conditions from July 2022 to September 2024, President Wickremesinge had restored normal life in Sri Lanka after it was crippled by an unprecedented shortage of essential commodities in 2022.

The man-made economic crisis happened when Sri Lanka had barely recovered from the ravages of COVID-19 and also an international economic crisis triggered by the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Wickremesinghe secured an IMF package of US$ 3 billion with Western and Indian support. He got US$ 4.5 billion from India to keep Sri Lanka afloat.

And yet, Sri Lankan voters consigned Wickremesinghe to the third position in the Presidential poll.

Key features

The 9th., Lankan Presidential election will stand out for the following reasons:

(1) It is the first Presidential election in Sri Lanka in which no candidate got 50% plus votes necessary to win in the first round. For the first time, the second preference votes were counted to decide the winner.

(2) It is for the first time that a candidate with little or no administrative experience and from a very small party, has emerged as the single largest vote getter.

The most experienced candidate was Wickremesinghe who had held Finance and Defence portfolios apart from the Premiership and the Presidency. Dissanayake, on the other hand, was Agriculture Minister only for a year in a coalition government long ago. He has only had parliamentary experience though he often led the opposition charge against the government. Even Premadasa had only been Housing Minister.

Sri Lankan voters defied conventional ideas about voter behaviour. It was thought that people would vote on the basis of loyalty to parties and also as whole families rather than as individuals. It was also thought that voting would be on the basis of the rural-urban divide or class and cultural divides. But the voting pattern this time showed that Dissanayake had support across social, ethnic, regional and religious divides.

Another popular pre-election theory was that economic factors would determine the voting pattern. Because Wickremesinghe had turned the economy round with the help of the IMF bailout and its prescriptions, he would reap a rich harvest of votes. But that was not to be!

On the contrary, non-economic factors proved to be decisive. These were: (1) a yearning for a new face (2) thirst for a total change even if there is no clear idea of the nature of change (3) anger against Wickremesinghe for running the government with the help of MPs belonging the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by the “corrupt” Rajapaksa family.

Wickremesinghe’s plea that he had to seek the help of the SLPP to pass legislation in parliament to save the economy, fell on deaf ears. He lost because he was tainted by his association with the Rajapaksas. The fact that Namal Rajapaksa was one of the 38 candidates contesting against him did not help wash off the taint.

Dissanayake as President

Given the fact Dissanayake was trying to appeal to every section of Sri Lankan society, not just the working class, he toned down his Marxist or radical left wing rhetoric and assured each section that he will not be hostile to them.

Such assurances were given to the corporates who were anxious about his stand on the private sector. He told the Tamils in Jaffna that he would decentralise power to them.

Dissanayake’s nostrum was “Change”. But he never defined and indicated a pathway to it. But the inchoate notion of “change” was swallowed hook, line and sinker by people of all classes, who were thirsting for “change from the old corrupt order and corrupt politicians.”

Dissanayake had never been in power to become corrupt.

His voters now expect him to hound the “corrupt” Rajapaksas and their coterie, and recover the money they had allegedly stashed away overseas. This is a tall order.

Dissanayake has promised to revise the IMF’s prescriptions to make it more tolerable for the poor by increasing direct cash transfers, bringing down taxes etc.

However, experts say that any drastic change in the IMF’s prescriptions or any refusal to abide them, will only result in Sri Lanka’s going back again to the IMF with a begging bowl for the 17 th. time in its history.

Sri Lanka has not got out of the freebie culture. But the government as no money to give freebies any more. It is not clear as to how Dissanayake hopes to bring relief to people when tax concessions cannot be limitless.

It is not clear as to what Dissanayake wants to do when he says that the IMF’s prescriptions would be amended to make them more people-sensitive.

As people have voted him, expecting him to bring them tangible relief, the burden on him to deliver would be very heavy.

Furthermore, the issue of renegotiating the IMF bailout could put strains in Sri Lanka’s relations with the US, India and even China as these back the IMF program.

India had sent its External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman to talk to the IMF on Sri Lanka’s behalf. India had formally stood up for Sri Lanka, as did China. Any bid to change the deal will upset the applecart.

Relations with India

As a Marxist, Dissanayaka has been a natural ally of China but his party, especially its hard core the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has anti-Indian tinge.

The JVP’s interest has not been the promotion of China’s interests in Sri Lanka, but whipping up or exploiting anti-Indian feelings among the majority Sinhalese community.

Dissanayake cut his teeth in agitation politics in 1987 when the JVP was leading street battles in Colombo against the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 and the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to implement a scheme of power devolution for the minority Tamils.

During his election campaign Dissanayake pointed out that the Sri Lankan market is flooded with Indian goods and that this must be stopped. He also said that the grant of the 99 giant oil tanks in Trincomalee to India should be annulled and that global tenders have to be floated for their development and use.

He has said that the projects that were given to the Adanis need to be reviewed as these were not based on international tenders.

However, when talking to Indian media, Dissanayake promised that his government would not do anything that endangers India’s security and that he recognized the importance of India in the region.

It will be a challenge for the hard core Marxist, Sinhala nationalist and anti-Indian Dissanayake to keep all interests happy whether in Sri Lanka or outside.

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US to work with AKD on shared priorities

The United States says it stands ready to work with President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake on shared priorities.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung congratulated President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake on his victory in Sri Lanka’s presidential election.

“We also congratulate the Sri Lankan people for peacefully exercising their democratic rights. We value the strong U.S.-Sri Lanka partnership and stand ready to work together on shared priorities,” the Ambassador said on X.

The Leader of the National Peoples Power (NPP) secured 5634915 votes as the first preference and 105264 votes as the second or third preference, giving him a total of 5740179 votes.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa secured 4363035 votes as the first preference and 167867 votes as the second or third preference, giving him a total of 4530902 votes.

As a result, Dissanayake was elected based on having the highest number of total votes.

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Lasantha’s daughter seeks justice under Anura’s Presidency

The daughter of slain journalist Lasantha Wickremetunge is seeking justice from new Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for her father’s murder.

Issuing a statement, Ahimsa Wickremetunge said that she and her family are determined in seeking justice for her father, whose life was unjustly taken for speaking truth to power.

“Today, we stand with hope and unwavering determination in seeking justice for my father, whose life was unjustly taken for speaking truth to power. The pain still lingers 15 years on, but I remain resolute in my pursuit of the truth and accountability,” Ahimsa Wickremetunge said.

She said for 15 years the Governments in power refused to take meaningful action into her father’s assassination which is a stark reminder of the country’s culture of impunity.

Ahimsa Wickremetunge said that for the first time she was hopeful that regardless of the outcome of this election, justice could prevail with either of the two leading candidates.

She also thanked Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa who has consistently and personally promised justice for her family under a Premadasa presidency.

Full statement:

Today, we stand with hope and unwavering determination in seeking justice for my father, whose life was unjustly taken for speaking truth to power. The pain still lingers 15 years on, but I remain resolute in my pursuit of the truth and accountability.

Yesterday’s election result has given us a renewed sense of hope. The JVP has historically been critical of the establishment and we are hopeful this leadership will bring a fresh perspective into finally addressing the atrocities that have taken place in Sri Lanka’s recent human rights history.

Despite the overwhelming evidence by our brave and skilled detectives like Shani Abeysekara and Nishantha Silva, for 15 years the governments in power refused to take meaningful action into our father’s assassination which is a stark reminder of the country’s culture of impunity. It left my family no choice but to seek justice beyond our shores.

For the first time, we were hopeful that regardless of the outcome of this election, justice could prevail with either of the two leading candidates. Our family would like to thank Sajith Premadasa who has consistently and personally promised justice for our family under a Premadasa presidency. He fought long and hard in his campaign and he’s fought even harder for Sri Lankans.

The people have spoken and we congratulate Anura Kumara Dissanayake who has vowed justice for my father and many other families who suffered horrific losses under the Rajapaksa reign of terror. We look forward to working with his government in the pursuit of accountability and a just Sri Lanka. While the road to justice is long and arduous, I remain committed in my fight for my father and honoring his legacy.

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India PM congratulates Sri Lanka’s president elect

Sri Lanka’s president-elect Anura Dissanayake has received congratulatory messages from leaders and envoys since his election victory.

“Sri Lanka holds a special place in India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and Vision SAGAR,” India’s Prime Minister Narenda Modi said.

“I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our multifaceted cooperation for the benefit of our people and the entire region.”

India’s envoy to Sri Lanka also met Dissanayake after his election.

SLPP, SJB, & SLFP veto backing NPP

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) stated that they would not support any potential Government led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP).

With the election of NPP Leader and Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the President, attention has now shifted to how the NPP will form a government, especially given that the Party currently has only three representatives in the Parliament.

When The Daily Morning queried SLPP General Secretary MP Sagara Kariyawasam as to whether they would consider supporting an NPP Government, he firmly said that they would not. “We have no intention of supporting them. As a Party, we adhere to a distinct set of policies. Both the SJB and the NPP have policies that are different from ours. Unlike some others, we are not prepared to support such a movement merely to secure power.”

The Daily Morning also queried SLFP Senior Vice President and incumbent Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries Mahinda Amaraweera, who was supporting defeated Presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe, as to whether they would consider extending support to an NPP Government. In response, he said: “We are not hoping to support an NPP Government.”

In response to the same query by The Daily Morning, SJB National Organiser and MP, Tissa Attanayake stated that there is no point in discussing a coalition government, since the SJB does not plan to support the NPP, nor has the NPP indicated any intention to form such a government.

“The mandates received by Dissanayake and SJB Leader and Presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa are different. If someone asks us if we’re ready to go ahead with Dissanayake, I don’t think that there is any need for such. The NPP has also not indicated any such plan. So, there is no need to talk about it.”

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Japan congratulates AKD

Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Mizukoshi Hideaki, yesterday expressed his heartfelt congratulations to President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake for his election as the new President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

In a statement he said Japan is looking forward to working closely with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in furthering the friendly relationship between Japan and Sri Lanka.

“We would like to congratulate the people of Sri Lanka on their active participation in Sri Lanka’s democratic process in electing their leader. Japan will stand ready to cooperate with the new administration under the leadership of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the people of Sri Lanka in achieving economic and social goals as well as our stronger relationship,” he said.

“History has witnessed that our friendship has only become stronger despite the changes of the leader in Sri Lanka, and in Japan for that matter. We are confident that the election in Sri Lanka this time will turn the page of our relationship in a way the new pages will be filled with stories of renewed friendship and cooperation, just like it has always been in the past,” Mizukoshi added.