COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is looking to consolidate his party’s power in Thursday’s parliamentary election to help him implement his election pledges to solve the country’s economic woes and foster good governance.
The Marxist-leaning Dissanayake won the presidential election on Sept. 21 in a victory that marked a rejection of the traditional political parties that have governed the island nation since its independence from British rule in 1948.
However, Dissanayake’s failure to secure more than 50% of the vote has fueled concerns over his party’s outlook in the parliamentary election. His National People’s Power party must increase its votes significantly — from the 42% it won in the presidential election — if it is to secure a minimum of 113 seats to take control of the 225-member Parliament.
Dissanayake, while campaigning for his party’s candidates, has called on voters to help elect them to Parliament so he won’t need to rely on a coalition to enact the reforms he promised.
“A strong government should be formed to rebuild the country. A government that is unshakable in the Parliament should be established. And to do that, Parliament should be filled with elected members from our party,” Dissanayake said to cheers at a rally on the final day of campaigning on Monday.
The election comes at a decisive time for Sri Lankans, as the island nation emerges from its worst economic crisis, having declared bankruptcy after defaulting on its external debt in 2022.
The country is now in the middle of a bailout program with the International Monetary Fund and debt restructuring with international creditors nearly complete.
Dissanayake had said during the presidential campaign that he planned to propose significant changes to the targets set in the IMF deal, which his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe signed, saying it placed too much burden on the people. However, he has since changed his stance and says Sri Lanka will go along with the agreement and not seek to change it.
He told his supporters on Monday that an IMF team would arrive in Sri Lanka two days after the election to complete a third review of the agreement.
“By the end of January or the beginning of February, we will complete that task. By then, we will be able to secure considerable stability in the economy,“ he said.
He said the government will present its first budget in February next year.
The government expects the budget to include proposals to reduce taxes and increase salaries for government servants.