Sri Lanka president gets resounding mandate to drive forward recovery

By Uditha Jayasinghe

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's sweeping coalition election win this week underlined widening support for his leftist policies, but he faces the test of steering the nation's recovery from a financial crisis with an inexperienced set of lawmakers.

Dissanayake's coalition, the National People's Party (NPP)had just three seats in the previous parliament but scored a landslide victory in Thursday's general election, winning a two-thirds majority in the 225-member house.

With the massive mandate, the South Asian nation of 22 million handed him legislative power to push through his plans to fight poverty in the country and will look to him to deliver them out of the country's worst financial crisis since independence from the British in 1948.

Dissanayake, who comes from a small farming household in the southern city of Thambuttegama and is a physical science graduate, defeated political elites to secure his presidential term in September.

And his coalition, made up mostly of new political entrants, pulverised candidates from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya party of opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and experienced lawmakers backed by previous President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

However, his promises to slash taxes and introduce stronger welfare support for millions of poor could clash with the completion of a $25 billion debt restructuring programme and taking forward a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"The president has a huge mandate now to carry through the reforms but also huge expectations from the people," said Bhavani Fonseka, a researcher at Colombo's Centre for Policy Alternatives.

"This is unprecedented, we haven't seen this kind of victory before. People voted for a change."

Despite his manifesto outlining plans to adopt a homegrown approach to Sri Lanka's economic woes, Dissanayake has taken a more conciliatory approach since coming to power.

He said any changes to the contours of the IMF programme would be undertaken in consultation with the fund and that he is committed to ensuring repayment of debt. His government has continued engaging with the IMF and took forward a preliminary agreement with bondholders reached earlier in September.

A third review of the IMF programme was delayed due to the parliamentary election. The new government is expected to step up talks with the IMF and fiscal goals set under the programme are likely to be included in a budget to be presented to parliament early next year.

"We think it is unlikely that Dissanayake is emboldened by this sweeping victory to unveil a market-unfriendly set of policies that might be truer to his Marxist roots," Tellimer Insights said in an analyst note.

"All of his actions and rhetoric so far... have demonstrated his acknowledgement that there is little alternative but to continue down the path of policy course correction."