Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the prominent Marxist leader, has emerged victorious in Sri Lanka’s closely watched presidential election, marking a stark departure from the entrenched political elite who are largely blamed for the country’s increasing economic challenges.

In an unprecedented turn of events, Sri Lanka saw its first presidential election runoff on Sunday, after no candidate secured the required 50% majority in the first round. The contest was ultimately decided in favor of Dissanayake after counting second-preference votes, with the results declared by evening. “This is a win for every one of us,” Dissanayake said in a post on X.

Dissanayake, who is 55, successfully unseated Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had taken over the presidency in 2022 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s abrupt resignation and flight from the country, triggered by widespread civil unrest.

This victory is historic for Dissanayake’s party, the hard-left Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which represents part of the larger National People Power (NPP) coalition. For the first time, the JVP has gained control of the presidential office, a milestone few could have predicted for a party long viewed as operating on the political fringe.

In the last presidential election, held in 2019, the NPP drew a meager 3% of the vote, while the JVP holds just three parliamentary seats. For decades, the JVP was perceived by many as an unelectable radical grouping, haunted by its past involvement in bloody uprisings during the 1980s that resulted in thousands of deaths.

However, a combination of prolonged political instability and economic collapse since 2022 has stirred widespread public discontent with the established political leadership that had held power for the past 20 years. The island nation, grappling with a financial crisis, saw its foreign reserves dry up, leaving it unable to afford essential supplies like food and medicine or fulfill its international financial obligations.

The crisis led to Sri Lanka essentially declaring bankruptcy, which, in turn, fueled growing resentment toward Rajapaksa’s leadership and his family’s political dynasty, widely accused of corruption and mismanagement of state funds. The unrest culminated in the aragalaya—or “struggle”—as protestors flooded the streets, eventually storming the presidential palace where they swam in the president’s pool and exercised in his gym. This groundswell of dissatisfaction led directly to Rajapaksa’s resignation and temporary exile.

Wickremesinghe, a veteran politician who had served six previous terms as prime minister, was then installed as interim president, charged with steering the country toward economic recovery. Despite securing a critical $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), his administration became highly unpopular due to austerity measures that disproportionately affected the poorest citizens, even as poverty levels rose to 25% in just two years.

During this time, Dissanayake’s NPP worked tirelessly to build grassroots support. By focusing on an anti-corruption platform and promoting transparency, the NPP attracted a large number of new voters. The party’s messaging reflected a notable shift, with Dissanayake adopting a more moderate tone compared to the JVP’s previous Marxist rhetoric. He also publicly distanced the party from its violent past, issuing formal apologies for the deaths that resulted from previous uprisings.

As voters focused largely on economic concerns this election, Dissanayake tapped into the simmering frustrations that had arisen during the aragalaya. He promised to eradicate political corruption and clientelism and vowed to hold those accountable for past wrongdoings. Crucially, he also pledged to revisit and renegotiate the terms of the IMF bailout in a bid to ease the economic burden on citizens.

“The election outcome clearly demonstrates that the 2022 uprising is far from over,” remarked Pradeep Peiris, a political analyst at the University of Colombo.

In Colombo’s streets, the election results were met with a palpable sense of optimism. Mohammed Dilshad, 50, who works in the tourism sector, expressed hope for change after years of disappointment with the country's two dominant political factions. “Anura [Dissanayake] has never held power before, and now he has been given this mandate with much hope,” Dilshad observed. “People are demanding systemic change. They have promised to cut government spending, now they must deliver on these commitments.”

Among other notable candidates, Namal Rajapaksa, nephew of former president Gotabaya, also ran in the election. His dismal fourth-place finish with less than 3% of the vote reflects just how dramatically the political landscape has shifted since 2019, when his uncle won in a landslide.

Reporting contributions from Aanya Wipulasena in Colombo