The announcement said the parliamentary elections will be held on November 14. The new parliament will convene on November 21. The most recent general election in Sri Lanka was held in August 2020. Lawmakers are elected for a five-year term.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake reads a document after being sworn in as president at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 23. Photo: Sri Lanka President Media
Sri Lankans elected Mr Dissanayake, a Marxist politician , in a presidential election over the weekend, handing him a key role in deciding the future of reforms in Sri Lanka, an island nation slowly emerging from a severe financial crisis.
But his coalition, the National People's Party, has only three of the 225 seats in the current parliament, forcing him to dissolve the legislature to find a new mandate for his policies.
The presidential vote on September 21 is Sri Lanka's first since the country's economy went into recession in 2022 due to a severe foreign currency shortage that left the country unable to pay for imports of essential goods including fuel, medicine and cooking gas. Protests forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and later resign.
Mr Dissanayake has pledged to bring change to those suffering from austerity measures linked to a $2.9 billion IMF bailout programme following the economic crisis, while also pledging to expand existing welfare programmes.
He will have to ensure the economy returns to sustainable and inclusive growth, reassure domestic and international markets, attract investors and lift 25% of the 22 million population out of poverty.
Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tong-thong-dac-cu-sri-lanka-giai-tan-quoc-hoi-de-don-duong-cho-cuoc-bau-cu-moi-post313825.html
Comment (0)