Anura Dissanayake takes oath as Sri Lankan president

Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday took oath as the ninth executive president of Sri Lanka, just years after the country experienced a severe economic crisis and civil unrest.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected the president of the Island Nation after he registered a victory in the presidential polls.

He won the elections with a total of 5,740,179 votes, media reports said.

He defeated his closest opponent Sajith Premadasa who received 4,530,902.

Outgoing President and veteran Sri Lankan politician Ranil Wickremesinghe got 2,299,767 in the first round of counting.

He was excluded in the second round.

In his congratulatory wish to his successor, the Sri Lankan leader wrote on X: “Mr. President Anura Dissanayake, I hand over to you the loving child Sri Lanka whom I love.President Ranil Wickramasinghe.”

“We need to strengthen democracy. I pledge to do my utmost to safeguard democracy,” the new President-elect was quoted as saying by BBC.

Saturday’s Presidential poll was the first since Sri Lanka witnessed a massive mass movement which led to the ouster of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa from power.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s alliance the National People’s Power rose to prominence since the 2022 movement.