Marxist leader Anura Dissanayake elected Sri Lanka's 10th President

Ranil Wickremesinghe bids an emotional farewell to Lanka presidency

Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday was declared winner of the Sri Lankan presidential election by the country's Election Commission after an unprecedented second round of counting of votes.

Dissanayake, 56, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People's Power (NPP), defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).

Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe was eliminated in the first round after he failed to become within the top two in the vote list.

NPP said Dissanayake will take oath on Monday. He will be the 10th President of the island nation.

After being defeated in the election, Wickremesinghe bid an emotional farewell to his 26-month tenure marking the end of his presidency.

Addressing president-elect Dissanayake in a statement, the 75-year-old outgoing President said: “President Anura Dissanayake, I am handing over to your care the lovable child of Sri Lanka.”

He said that over the last two years he has safely carried the Sri Lanka child on the vine bridge, and “I wish that under your care as the new president, the child is carried safely to the end of his destination”.

The election on Saturday was the first to be held since mass protests unseated Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 after the country suffered an economic crisis.