Left leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, won the presidential election in Sri Lanka.

The result of the Sri Lankan presidential election has signalled the beginning of a new era, in the politics of the  island nation. In an unprecedented development,  left leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won the election and has sworn in as the 9th president of  Sri Lanka. Dissanayake secured 42.31% votes against the 32.76% votes secured by Sajith Premadasa. The sitting president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, came 3rd with only 20% votes.  In the last presidential election, Dissanayake got only 3.16% votes against Gotabaya Rajapakse. Dissanayake is the leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna ( People's Liberation Front), a party with Marxist -Leninist ideology. Dissanayake has visited India early this year. In his election manifesto, he  has stated that, Sri Lanka's territory would not be allowed to threaten or risk the national security of any country in the region, including India."

[ Source: The Hindu dt. 23-09-2024 ]