Fixing Sri Lanka’s battered economy and wiping out racism will be top priority for a National People’s Power (NPP) government, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, among the frontrunners in the September 21 race, said on Tuesday.  

He spoke to The Hindu amid a hectic campaign at the headquarters of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a party with Marxist origins that is leading the NPP alliance.  Sri Lanka is “poised for a renaissance project”, departing from the old political order, Mr. Dissanayake, 55, said, adding: “People are voting for change.” Multiple domestic polls have given the articulate opposition politician a lead in the contest.

The JVP leader, who was elected to parliament from Colombo, along with Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, have emerged as key challengers to incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also running for President.

The NPP’s campaign began “long ago,” Mr. Dissanayake said, referring to his party’s steady efforts soon after its poor performance in the last election in 2019, when he contested and came third, with just 3.16 % of the total votes. It was the election that Gotabaya Rajapaksa won with a clear majority. Mr. Dissanayake’s vote share must swell to over 50 % for him to clinch the presidency.

Also read: Sri Lanka needs a national liberation movement, not mere regime change: Anura Kumara Dissanayake

His prospects improved dramatically in these five years not only because of an impressive grassroots campaign. Sri Lanka has witnessed momentous changes, with a mass uprising ousting Mr. Gotabaya from office when a crushing economic crisis gripped the country in 2022. In addition to demanding his resignation, the people’s movement called for “system change”.  That sentiment, too, has since propelled Mr. Dissanayake to prominence with many, especially youth, seeing him personify the change they sought.

“The people have very high expectations now,” said Mr. Dissanayake, pointing to the “challenge” this presents. “We must somehow channel all this enthusiasm, energy, and hope in constructive ways for positive change.” Sharing a three-fold objective for the first five years if he were president, he said: “If we can fix the economy and make it work for all; build a country with no racism or religious intolerance; and set a course for social justice, I would consider it a success.”

Apart from vowing to eliminate corruption, the NPP has said it will renegotiate Sri Lanka’s ongoing programme with the International Monetary Fund, as has Mr. Premadasa’s main opposition alliance. Both parties know they face an electorate that is grappling with painful austerity measures introduced by the Wickremesinghe government, amid enduring high living costs, and that whoever wins will inherit bleak economic prospects.   

The NPP has two bogeys raised by its critics — the JVP’s two armed insurrections in the 1970s and 1980s, and its economic management, given the party’s roots in state socialism. Critics fear an NPP government may roll-back the private sector role in the economy, and raise welfare spending widening the budget deficit, instead of deepening market deregulation and trade liberalization as set out in the ongoing IMF programme.

While the JVP, that is the political core of Mr. Dissanayake’s electoral alliance, is ‘Marxist-Leninist’ in its founding ideology — the NPP manifesto makes no radical pitch for anti-capitalist policies. Mr. Dissanayake himself points to several comparable promises on welfare schemes in “all main manifestos”. “In fact, our welfare project will cost the state much less than others’,” he claims. On his plans to increase government revenue to reduce the budget deficit, he said, making the tax collection system efficient would boost income, “without imposing any new taxes”. The NPP manifesto has envisioned domestic production-based economic growth that it expects will augment current state revenue.

“Our party has demonstrated its commitment to democratic politics for 35 years now. And we have outlined our economic vision very clearly for everyone to see. All this fear mongering by our rivals about our past and future have not gained any traction among voters,” he said confidently.

India partnership

Speaking on foreign investment, Mr. Dissanayake said there is a “need to work with India”, especially in the energy sector. “Sri Lanka has enormous potential for producing renewable, especially wind, energy,” he said pointing to potential Indian collaboration in building infrastructure for the same.    

Adani Green is investing $442 million in a wind power project in the island’s Northern Province. The project has run into controversy over energy pricing and environmental concerns in the northern Mannar district, and for its entry without a transparent bid.

“We welcome foreign capital, including from the private sector. But all investments should come through a fair tender process,” he said, referring to Adani Green’s current offer of $0.0826, or 8.26 cents, per kWh. “If the government had gone for a fair tender process, we could have got it for half the price.”          

Numbers to govern

Meanwhile, Mr. Dissanayake has promised to abolish the Executive Presidency that rights advocates have, for long, seen as dangerous concentration of power in one individual. “I am determined to do that as soon as possible, but there could be delays,” he said. The presidential form of government is closely linked to the country’s electoral system and laws, and its abolition is tied to changing some of those laws, for which he would need all political parties’ support, he explained.

Further, Mr. Dissanayake’s alliance currently has three members in the 225-member legislature, raising questions about how he would go about forming a Cabinet to govern, should he win presidency. “We have at least three options to consider before the [imminent] parliamentary elections. Whatever it is, we will adhere to the Constitution”. Outlining the options, he reminded that in the event of his election, his vacant parliamentary seat would be filled by another from his party, allowing for a four-member Cabinet (including him) to be formed; or the President could hold all portfolios; or a caretaker government could be formed with support other parties in the present parliament. “All this will depend on the situation and how others respond.”

Tamils’ support

While the surge in Mr. Dissanayake’s popularity in many parts of the country is visible, he does not seem to have made major inroads yet into the north that is home to the war-affected Tamils. It would be the “duty” of an NPP government to address long-pending issues around war-time accountability, truth, and justice that Tamils want, he said. “Our aim is to make domestic mechanisms credible and sound, so the Tamil people will be able to trust them. Past governments were determined to hide the truth and delay the processes.”

On the pending political settlement, Mr. Dissanayake said his government would take forward past efforts towards drafting a new constitution, referring to the initiative the Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe government began in 2015 and later abandoned. Island-wide consultations were held at the time to collect proposals from citizens. Subsequently, a team of constitutional experts prepared a draft that the main Tamil political group, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), endorsed on the basis that it “went beyond” the currently available 13^th Amendment. “Some of us were part of the process…we don’t have to re-invent the wheel. We will build on that effort,” said Mr. Dissanayake.