Party of Sri Lanka’s New Marxist-Leaning President Wins Majority in Parliamentary Election

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Marxist-leaning party has won the Nov. 15 snap parliamentary elections, with his National People’s Power coalition now set to steer the island nation for the next five years. Dissanayake’s party won 159 of the 225 elected district seats and allocated seats in parliament, according to the Elections Commission. Meanwhile, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, or United People’s Power Party—led by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa—had 40 seats and was in second place, the Elections Commission said. Dissanayake, 55, had defeated incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and 36 other candidates in September’s elections. Still, the anti-corruption campaigner and political outsider needed a clear majority in parliament to deliver on key policies aimed at tackling rampant corruption, poverty, and soaring inflation in the wake of the island’s worst-ever economic crisis—in 2022, Sri Lanka defaulted on debt for the first time since its independence from Britain in 1948, resulting in its economy shrinking by 7 percent....