GEOPOLITICS TIGHTROPE
Since his rise to popularity, Dissanayake has softened some policies, saying he believes in an open economy and is not totally opposed to privatisation.
“There is a smear campaign against us, saying we will nationalise everything, even cows,” Dissanayake said at a campaign rally.
“We will certainly help farmers to improve, to have their own dairies,” he said. “We will not take over cows.”
His manifesto vows to improve loss-making state enterprises without selling them off.
Dissanayake and his party have mended fences with New Delhi since their anti-India rhetoric in 1987, but he is also seen as being close to China.
The two nations are competing for influence in Sri Lanka, strategically situated on global east-west sea routes.
Dissanayake visited New Delhi this year for meetings with top Indian politicians, shortly after a similar visit to Beijing.
On Sunday, JVP politburo member Bimal Ratnayake said Dissanayake would not allow the island to be caught up in geopolitical rivalry between the two.
“Sri Lankan territory will not be used against any other nation,” he said.
TACKLING A FRAGILE ECONOMY
Saturday’s election was the first since mass protests over the economy ousted former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.
The financial crisis was the worst in Sri Lanka’s history as an independent nation since the end of British colonial rule in 1948.
Bolstered by the IMF deal, Sri Lanka’s economy has managed a tentative recovery. It is expected to grow this year for the first time in three years and inflation has moderated to 0.5 per cent from a crisis peak of 70 per cent.
However, the continued high cost of living was a critical issue for many voters as millions remain mired in poverty.
Dissanayake has promised to dissolve parliament within 45 days of taking office for a fresh mandate for his policies in general elections.
He will have to ensure Sri Lanka sticks with the IMF programme until 2027 to get its economy on a stable growth path, reassure markets, repay debt, attract investors and help a quarter of its people out of poverty.
