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New leader’s promises will be tricky to keep in crisis-hit Sri Lanka

Published

1 year ago

2025/01/1

Priyan

Anura Kumara Dissanayake wants the new year to be a turning point for the country [BBC]

Stunning election wins by a new left-leaning president and his party have changed Sri Lanka’s political landscape – but the cash-strapped island’s new rulers are quickly realising that campaign promises are easier to make than to keep.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s remarkable victory in the presidential election in September was swiftly followed by a landslide for his National People’s Power (NPP) alliance in parliamentary elections.

As a new year starts, he and his supporters want this to be a turning point for the country, which is trying to recover from devastating economic crisis and years of misrule.

However, they have limited room for manoeuvre to make good on pledges to voters, whose expectations from the new government are high.

Since the financial meltdown of 2022, economic recovery has been fragile and Sri Lanka is far from out of the woods.

The NPP won 159 seats in the 225-member assembly in November – an unprecedented two-thirds majority – giving Dissanayake a sweeping mandate to push through major economic and constitutional reforms.

However, even as the results were coming in, the new president had to gear up for a meeting with a visiting delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with which the outgoing government had negotiated a $2.9bn (£2.31bn) bailout package. The IMF deal became controversial as it led to severe austerity measures, tax rises and cuts in energy subsidies – hitting common people hard.

During the campaign Dissanayake and his alliance promised that they would re-negotiate parts of the IMF agreement.

But in his address to the new parliament, he performed a U-turn. “The economy is in such a state that it cannot take the slightest shock… There’s no room to make mistakes,” Dissanayake said.

“This is not the time to discuss if the terms [of the IMF loan] are good or bad, if the agreement is favourable to us or not… The process had taken about two years, and we cannot start all over again.”

Getty Images Police fire tear gas at protesters on a street leading to Sri Lanka'a Presidential Palace — *An uprising, driven by economic frustrations, toppled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 [BBC]*

The voters’ overwhelming verdict for the NPP is seen as the culmination of a people’s uprising triggered by the economic crisis. The uprising toppled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the summer of 2022, when Sri Lanka ran out of foreign currency and struggled to import food and fuel.

The country had earlier declared bankruptcy after defaulting on its external debt of about $46bn. India, China and Japan are among those who have loaned billions of dollars.

The recent election results also reflected people’s anger towards established political parties – of former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe and others – for failing to handle the economic meltdown.

“One of the priorities for Dissanayake will be to give some economic relief to the people due to excessive taxation and the cost-of-living crisis. Debt management is another big challenge,” veteran political analyst Prof Jayadeva Uyangoda told the BBC.

So far the massive political changes don’t seem to have had any impact on people like Niluka Dilrukshi, a mother-of-four who lives in a suburb of the capital Colombo. Her husband is a daily-wage labourer and the family still find it hard to get by.

The BBC spoke to her about the soaring cost of living in January 2022, months before mass protests erupted. At that time, she said her family was eating only two meals a day, instead of three, and they were giving only vegetables and rice to their children due to the high cost of fish and meat.

“We are still struggling to make ends meet and nothing has changed. The price of rice, which is the staple food, has increased further. We are not getting any relief from the government,” Mrs Dilrukshi said.

People like her want the new government to take immediate steps to bring down the cost of essentials. Sri Lanka is an import-dependent nation, and it needs foreign currency to bring in items like food and medicine.

For now, Colombo is able to hold on to its currency reserves as it has suspended its debt repayments.

The real struggle, experts point out, will start probably in the next three or four years when it starts repaying its debt.

People’s perception of President Dissanayake and his new government could change if there’s no visible change in their standard of living in the next two or three years.

“People have given him a huge mandate. The IMF should respect that by allowing him to give some relief to the people through social welfare programmes,” says Prof Uyangoda.

*Sri Lankans want the new government to bring down the cost of essentials [BBC]*

Dissanayake must also contend with India and China, which are jostling for influence in Sri Lanka, where both have invested heavily in recent years.

“Both India and China will try to bring Colombo under their sphere of influence. I think the new government’s foreign policy will be very pragmatic without aligning with anyone,” says Prof Uyangoda.

In a careful diplomatic manoeuvre, Dissanayake chose Delhi as his first official overseas destination in mid-December. During the visit, India promised to supply liquefied natural gas for Sri Lankan power plants and work on connecting the power grids of the two countries in the long run.

China’s increasing foothold in Sri Lanka, especially calls by Chinese “research” vessels to the island’s ports – so close to India’s southern tip – has triggered concern in Delhi.

“I have given an assurance to the prime minister of India that we will not allow our land to be used in any way in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India,” Dissanayake said after talks with Narendra Modi. Delhi will no doubt be pleased with the assurance, but Dissanayake will find out what Beijing expects when he visits China in mid-January.

***[BBC]***

Getty Images A female stall owner at a Sri Lankan market looks into the distance, surrounded by the clothes she is selling — *An uprising, driven by economic frustrations, toppled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 [BBC]*

The voters’ overwhelming verdict for the NPP is seen as the culmination of a people’s uprising triggered by the economic crisis. The uprising toppled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the summer of 2022, when Sri Lanka ran out of foreign currency and struggled to import food and fuel.

The country had earlier declared bankruptcy after defaulting on its external debt of about $46bn. India, China and Japan are among those who have loaned billions of dollars.

The recent election results also reflected people’s anger towards established political parties – of former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe and others – for failing to handle the economic meltdown.

“One of the priorities for Dissanayake will be to give some economic relief to the people due to excessive taxation and the cost-of-living crisis. Debt management is another big challenge,” veteran political analyst Prof Jayadeva Uyangoda told the BBC.

So far the massive political changes don’t seem to have had any impact on people like Niluka Dilrukshi, a mother-of-four who lives in a suburb of the capital Colombo. Her husband is a daily-wage labourer and the family still find it hard to get by.

The BBC spoke to her about the soaring cost of living in January 2022, months before mass protests erupted. At that time, she said her family was eating only two meals a day, instead of three, and they were giving only vegetables and rice to their children due to the high cost of fish and meat.

“We are still struggling to make ends meet and nothing has changed. The price of rice, which is the staple food, has increased further. We are not getting any relief from the government,” Mrs Dilrukshi said.

People like her want the new government to take immediate steps to bring down the cost of essentials. Sri Lanka is an import-dependent nation, and it needs foreign currency to bring in items like food and medicine.

For now, Colombo is able to hold on to its currency reserves as it has suspended its debt repayments.

The real struggle, experts point out, will start probably in the next three or four years when it starts repaying its debt.

People’s perception of President Dissanayake and his new government could change if there’s no visible change in their standard of living in the next two or three years.

“People have given him a huge mandate. The IMF should respect that by allowing him to give some relief to the people through social welfare programmes,” says Prof Uyangoda.

*Sri Lankans want the new government to bring down the cost of essentials [BBC]*

Dissanayake must also contend with India and China, which are jostling for influence in Sri Lanka, where both have invested heavily in recent years.

“Both India and China will try to bring Colombo under their sphere of influence. I think the new government’s foreign policy will be very pragmatic without aligning with anyone,” says Prof Uyangoda.

In a careful diplomatic manoeuvre, Dissanayake chose Delhi as his first official overseas destination in mid-December. During the visit, India promised to supply liquefied natural gas for Sri Lankan power plants and work on connecting the power grids of the two countries in the long run.

China’s increasing foothold in Sri Lanka, especially calls by Chinese “research” vessels to the island’s ports – so close to India’s southern tip – has triggered concern in Delhi.

“I have given an assurance to the prime minister of India that we will not allow our land to be used in any way in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India,” Dissanayake said after talks with Narendra Modi. Delhi will no doubt be pleased with the assurance, but Dissanayake will find out what Beijing expects when he visits China in mid-January.

***[BBC]***

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SLC name squads for Tri-Nation ‘A’ series and Four-Day series

Published

15 hours ago

2026/06/4

Priyan

The Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Panel has named the following squads for the upcoming Tri-Nation ‘A’ Series and the Four-Day Series.

The Tri-Nation One-Day Series, featuring Sri Lanka ‘A’, India ‘A’, and Afghanistan ‘A’, will be played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium (RDICS), Dambulla, commencing on 9 June 2026.

The Four-Day Series between Sri Lanka ‘A’ and India ‘A’ will be played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium (GICS), Galle, with the first match scheduled to begin on 25 June 2026.

Latest News

SLC name squads for West Indies Emerging Tour of Sri Lanka 2026

Published

15 hours ago

2026/06/4

Priyan

The Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Panel has selected the following squads to play in the West Indies Emerging Tour of Sri Lanka 2026.

The West Indies and Sri Lanka emerging teams will play two four-day games and three one-day games during the bilateral contest.

The tour will begin on the 8th of June with the first four-day game at MRICS, Hambantota, while the second four-day game will start on the 15th of June at the same venue.

One-day games will be played on the 22nd, 24th, and 26th of June.

The first two one-day games will be played at the SSC, and the final at the NCC.

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ICC delegation visits Bangladesh to ‘review developments linked to the BCB’

Published

16 hours ago

2026/06/4

Priyan

Tamim Iqbal was sworn in as BCB president on April 7 [BCB]

A two-member ICC delegation that visited Dhaka earlier this week will report its findings and observations to the governing body. According to an ICC media release, directors Dr Mohammed Moosajee and Tavengwa Mukuhlani engaged with “a range of stakeholders to review developments linked to the BCB”.

Moosajee and Mukuhlani arrived in Dhaka on June 1, after which they met BCB’s ad-hoc committee members, including president Tamim Iqbal. The pair also met with members of the BCB’s election commission, with the polls scheduled to be held on June 7.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that the delegation also met with BCB directors who had resigned from the previous board. Among the directors who didn’t resign, Asif Akbar and Ahsan Iqbal Chowdhury were in the group that also met the ICC delegation in a separate meeting on June 2.

Afterwards, Aminul Islam, the former Bangladesh captain who was the BCB president until April, claimed that they urged the ICC to not recognise any election conducted by or under the authority of the ad-hoc committee on June 7 or at any other time. Aminul, who still considers himself the BCB president, said that the BCB’s ad-hoc committee should correct their May 31 press release regarding the ICC delegations’ visit to Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s High Court rejected a writ petition that challenged the legality of the election schedule and voter list for the upcoming BCB elections on June 7.

The bench of Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice Md Ashif Hasan passed the rejection order stating that the petition was not presented properly before it. The petition was filed on May 18, a month and a bit after the country’s sports ministry dissolved the BCB’s board of directors on April 7. They appointed an 11-member ad-hoc committee led by Tamim, the former Bangladesh captain, on the same day.

[Cricinfo]