Following Anura, Kumara Dissanayake’s victory at Sri Lanka’s presidential elections earlier this week, diplomats from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, France and Germany have issued statements of congratulation for the president-elect.
The United States congratulates President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake (@anuradisanayake) on his victory in Sri Lanka’s presidential election. We also congratulate the Sri Lankan people for peacefully exercising their democratic rights. We value the strong U.S.-Sri Lanka…
— Ambassador Julie Chung (@USAmbSL) September 22, 2024
Congratulations to President-elect Dissanayake on your victory following presidential elections in Sri Lanka.
— Catherine West (@CatherineWest1) September 22, 2024
The UK government looks forward to working with the President-elect and his government to further strengthen cooperation between the & @anuradisanayake
Congratulations to the new president of #SriLanka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Canada looks forward to working together on Sri Lanka’s ongoing efforts for economic and political reform and achieving inclusive, meaningful, and lasting national reconciliation.
— Canada in Sri Lanka and Maldives (@CanHCSriLanka) September 22, 2024
Congratulations to the newly elected President of @anuradisanayake on his victory. We also congratulate the people who exercised peacefully their democratic rights. We are looking forward to working with the new Gov. to enhance the ties & cooperations between our countries pic.twitter.com/dqOqdnBsJi
— French Embassy in Colombo (@FranceinColombo) September 23, 2024
I attended the inauguration of @anuradisanayake this morning. Grateful to witness what is a historic moment for Sri Lanka – a calm and orderly election and transfer of power is testament to the strength of Sri Lanka’s democracy. pic.twitter.com/klCctESnPt
— Australia in Sri Lanka (@AusHCSriLanka) September 23, 2024
I extend my sincere congratulations to President @anuradisanayake. Germany looks forward to continuing our close cooperation with Sri Lanka and working together on mutual interests that further strengthen our longstanding partnership.
— GermanEmbassyColombo (@GermanyinSL) September 23, 2024
Ambassador Dr. Felix Neumann
These statements come ahead of Sri Lanka’s review meeting with the International Monetary Fund to agree the next tranche of funding, worth an estimated $350 million. Dissanayake has repeatedly said that his party would seek to “re-negotiate” the terms of the agreement, despite the objections of the former State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe, who warned of an imminent economic collapse if parliament is dissolved and a third review of the much-needed IMF loan is not completed.
Dissanayake has also repeatedly vowed to dissolve parliament “the very night” of any victory. His National People's Power (NPP) coalition only has three lawmakers in parliament, and with a five-year presidential term set to commence, Dissanayake will likely seek to consolidate support in the legislative body but holding a parliamentary election.
Tamils across the North and East overwhelming did not support Dissanayake. Dissanayake stands opposed to efforts to advance accountability stating that his party "will not seek to punish anyone accused of rights violations and war crimes".
“Even the victims do not expect anyone to be punished,” he claimed, despite Tamils repeatedly calling for an international accountability mechanism and for Sri Lanka to be taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
His party has also openly embraced military officials implicated in war crimes such as retired general Aruna Jayasekara, reportedly entrusting him with their defence policy. Jeyasekara was the commander of the 3rd contingent to Haiti during a Sri Lankan peacekeeping operation that faced allegations of running a child sex trafficking ring during a UN peacekeeping operation from 2004 to 2007.