Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn as Sri Lanka’s ninth president on Monday after he won the presidential elections in the country, which saw popular uprising and ouster of former president over acute economic crises.
The Daily Mirror of Sri Lanka reported that the 56-year-old left leaning Dissanayake was sworn in by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at the Presidential Secretariat.
Dissanayake, leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna contested the presidential election as a candidate of the broader National People’s Power front and defeated Samagi Jana Balawegaya’s Sajith Premadasa. The election has given hope to the people of Island country, which ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 through massive protests as his government failed to tackle the economic crises in the country. Dissanayake thanked outgoing President Ranil Wickremesinghe for facilitating transfer of power and respecting the people’s mandate. Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena already resigned as part of a power transition following the presidential poll.
Source: Kuwait News Agency