Sri Lanka’s new president vows clean politics

Sri Lanka’s new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake vowed to bring clean politics and revive his country’s economy in his inauguration speech.

He had won a comprehensive victory in the debt-ridden South Asian country's presidential election a day earlier.

"We have a deep understanding that we have got a challenging country, our politics must be cleaner than this," said Dissanayake, a Marxist-leaning politician with no political lineage, after he took his oath as president.

"Our country needs international support. We expect that whatever the divisions in the international community deal with countries, we get the best deal. We are not a state that needs to be isolated in the world. We are a nation that must go forward hand in hand with the international community. We will not hesitate to take decisions to achieve this," He said.

Dissanayake, 55, who does not possess political lineage like some of his rivals in the presidential election, led from start to finish during the counting of votes, knocking out incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa.

About 75% of the 17 million eligible voters cast their ballots, according to the election commission.

This was the country's first election since its 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.

Dissanayake presented himself as the candidate of change for those reeling under austerity measures linked to a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, promising to dissolve parliament within 45 days of taking office for a fresh mandate for his policies in general elections.