<\/a>
\nIn the presidential election held on September 21, 2024, Anura Kumara Dissanayake
\nwon the presidency by receiving 5,740,179 votes, or 42.3 percent. He will go down in
\nhistory as the president who failed to secure 50 percent of the valid votes cast in the
\npresidential elections since 1982. In this presidential election, Anura Kumara was
\nable to win 14 of the country\u2019s 22 districts, while Sajith Premadasa won 8 districts.
\nAccording to the parliamentary seat results released, Anura was able to win 106
\nseats, while Sajith won 48 seats, indicating that there is no majority mandate.
\nAnura Kumara\u2019s victory is one outcome of the struggle that took place in 2022, which
\nousted then-President Gotabaya with the slogan &quot;Gota Go Home.&quot; This struggle
\npopularized the idea of sweeping away the corrupt capitalist families that had
\nplunged Sri Lanka into the most serious crisis in its history. The struggle not only got
\nrid of the president but also sent all 225 Members of Parliament home.
\nThe people&#39;s struggle was an expression of the aspirations of the public against the
\ndestruction caused by neoliberalism. However, there are serious contradictions
\nbetween the policies of Anura Kumara\u2019s National People&#39;s Power and the policies
\ndemanded by the people\u2019s struggle. The aspirations of that struggle will not bear fruit
\nunder the government of the National People&#39;s Power. Nevertheless, another
\nimportant factor highlighted by this election result is that the people are now rejecting
\nthe old traditional capitalist politics.<\/p>\n

The Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, the main force behind the NPP) has
\nrepeatedly asserted in the past that it stands for socialist policies. They made
\npromise after promise, surpassing the commitments of other capitalist candidates.
\nBut very soon, the people will come to understand that the government formed by
\nAnura is not capable of fulfilling the promises made to the people. It raises serious
\nquestions about whether Anura\u2019s government will be able to at least bring
\npunishment to the politicians who committed corruption and theft. Will they recover
\nthe stolen money? While Anura may have a short honeymoon period of a few
\nmonths, he will ultimately fail to move beyond capitalist measures to implement even
\nbasic socio-economic reforms that the country demands.<\/p>\n

It is no secret that Anura Kumara has made agreements with imperialist forces to
\ncontinue the neoliberal agenda, including deals with the IMF and the World Bank.
\nDuring negotiations with the main capitalist business community during the elections,
\nhe openly promised that the IMF program would continue. In Anura Kumara\u2019s own
\nwords, he stated that he is ready to &quot;walk the rest of the ropeway that Ranil
\nWickramasinghe started with the IMF.&quot; Ranil Wickramasinghe announced after his
\ndefeat that he would hand over the responsibilities to the new president, Anura
\nKumara, to cross the rest of the bridge. Anura Kumara is going to rule the country to
\nserve the needs of the International Monetary Fund, against the wishes of the people
\nwho put him in power.<\/p>\n

Anura Kumara has come to power by presenting a huge series of promises to the
\npeople, and when he fails to fulfill those promises, the mass anger of the people will
\nerupt in a significant way against his rule. In such an environment, the oppressed
\npeople, including the working class, are bound to engage in class struggle to win their demands. It is the responsibility of the trade union movement and the true left to
\nprovide leadership.<\/p>\n

The United Socialist Party presented a series of clear solutions to the socio-
\neconomic and political crisis facing the country in the last presidential election. The
\nUSP advanced demands such as non-repayment of debt, full nationalization of key
\nsectors such as banks and insurance under democratic workers&#39; control, stopping
\nthe process of selling local resources to neoliberal capitalists, and resolving the
\nnational question based on the right to self-determination. Additionally, employers&#39;
\nprovident funds should be controlled by trade unions and workers. A series of
\nproposals were made, including the immediate abolishment of the executive
\npresidency and the establishment of a workers&#39; government to implement a socialist
\nplan.<\/p>\n

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the voters who chose us. We
\nreceived 8,954 votes, approving the program presented by the United Socialist
\nParty. It should be specially mentioned that we extend our warm greetings for the
\ngood response received from the people of the north, where we received 1,221
\nvotes, and the response from the people of the east is equally encouraging, with 710
\nvotes. We also request that you join hands with us to face the deep crisis that is
\nabout to emerge and build a serious fight back for the forces of socialism.<\/p>\n

United Socialist Party – 09\/23\/2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the presidential election held on September 21, 2024, Anura Kumara Dissanayake won the presidency by receiving 5,740,179 votes, or 42.3 percent. He will go down in history as the president who failed to secure 50 percent of the valid votes cast in the presidential elections since 1982. In this presidential election, Anura Kumara was …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\n\t\r\n