Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli warplanes renewed their raids on the Mahmoudiya and Jarmaq areas
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli warplanes launched a series of raids targeting the Mahmoudiya and Jarmaq areas
Eslami: The competent authorities are preparing a technical report to assess the extent of the damage inflicted on nuclear facilities during the aggression against Iran
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami: Iran will pursue its nuclear program in line with the country's scientific and developmental needs
Israeli media: Israeli commando forces conduct airdrops in two locations in the Damascus countryside.
Israeli media platform: Israeli army forces carry out a commando operation in the al-Kiswah area of the Damascus countryside.
Syrian media outlets: Israeli helicopters flying at low altitude over Tal Mani in the Damascus countryside.
Israeli media platform: Israeli aircraft bomb Syrian bases simultaneously with tanks entering the southern outskirts of Damascus.
Israeli media: Israeli forces infiltrated the town of Beit Jann south of Damascus, and a new airstrike hit al-Kiswah.
Syrian media: Four Israeli helicopters have touched down in the southern city of Sweida.

Sri Lanka's new leftist leader dissolves parliament, calls elections

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 24 Sep 2024 23:14
3 Min Read

Anura Kumara Dissanayake disbanded the 225-member legislature late Tuesday, in which his once-marginal party had only three seats, and called an early election for November 14, over a year ahead of planned.

Listen
  • x
  • Sri Lanka's new leftist leader dissolves parliament, calls elections
    Commanders of the security forces stand behind as Sri Lanka's new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake addresses a gathering after he was sworn in at the Sri Lankan President's Office in Colombo, Sri Lanka on September 23, 2024.(AP)

Sri Lanka's new leftist president dissolved parliament on Tuesday and scheduled a quick election as he seeks to renegotiate the insolvent country's controversial IMF bailout agreement.

Sri Lankans elected Anura Kumara Dissanayake as their new President on Sunday, entrusting him with combatting corruption and strengthening the country's fragile economic recovery following its worst financial crisis in decades.

Dissanayake ran under the banner of the National People's Power alliance, which includes his Marxist-oriented Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party.

According to a notification in the official government gazette, he disbanded the 225-member legislature late Tuesday, in which his once-marginal party had only three seats, and called an early election for November 14, over a year ahead of planned.

The decree to dissolve parliament, whose term was set to expire in August, goes into immediate effect.

Despite being a small party, support for the 55-year-old Dissanayake's JVP increased during a 2022 economic collapse that impoverished millions of poor Sri Lankans and the agonizing implementation of the IMF rescue plan.

Related News

IMF: Sri Lanka's new gov't to stick within IMF 'guardrails'

Sri Lanka elects Marxist Dissanayake as president to save economy

"We will have the smallest cabinet in the history of Sri Lanka," party member Namal Karunaratne told reporters on Tuesday.

Just before parliament was dissolved, the administration announced that Dissanayake would address the country on Wednesday night.

Will Dissanayake save the economy? 

Dissanayake secured 5.6 million votes, or 42.3% of the total, a major improvement from the 3% he garnered in the 2019 presidential election. Premadasa followed with 32.8%.

Approximately 75% of the 17 million eligible voters participated, according to the election commission.

This was the first election since Sri Lanka's economy collapsed in 2022 due to a severe foreign exchange shortage, leaving the country unable to import essential goods like fuel, medicine, and cooking gas. The economic crisis led to widespread protests and forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and eventually resign.

Dissanayake presented himself as the candidate for change, appealing to those burdened by austerity measures tied to a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. He promised to dissolve parliament within 45 days of taking office and seek a fresh mandate for his policies through general elections.

Despite concerns among investors about his pledges to cut taxes and restructure $25 billion in debt, Dissanayake showed a more appeasing tone during his campaign, assuring that all reforms would be conducted in consultation with the IMF and that he remained committed to debt repayment.

He will now face the challenge of ensuring Sri Lanka adheres to the IMF programme through 2027 to achieve stable economic growth, restore market confidence, manage debt repayment, attract investment, and lift a quarter of the population out of poverty.

  • Anura Kumara Dissanayake
  • International Monetary Fund
  • IMF
  • Sri Lanka
  • IMF loan

Most Read

Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

  • Politics
  • 26 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025
Although it does seem likely they will launch some kind of operation in northern Gaza, one which will accelerate its mass murder of civilians, but will fail to achieve its stated objectives. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Here is why the Israeli occupation of Gaza won’t work

  • Opinion
  • 26 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Microsoft fires workers over protest against ties to 'Israel'
Technology

Microsoft fires workers over protest against ties to 'Israel'

OpenAI sued after teen’s suicide linked to ChatGPT use
Technology

OpenAI sued after ChatGPT 'encouraged' teen to commit suicide

Soldiers stand in guard as people wait outside a courthouse before the trial of 497 defendants, in Sincan, outside the capital Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, April 7, 2021 (AP)
Politics

Turkey arrests defense firm top executives amid espionage probe

Study links deforestation to over half a million deaths
Politics

Study links deforestation to over half a million deaths in two decades

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS