Sr I Lankans woke up on Wednesday to newspaper headlines
reporting that just days after winning election, the country's
new president had dissolved the legislature. That means a
snap parliamentary election will happen. November 14. This
is just another massive expenditure, man thinks it's a
good move to start af Freshh. What does President
Anura Kumara Des Sanaya hope to accomplish with a fresh
parliament? And what are the risks for the debt
ridden nation won Saturday's presidential election with the support of
5.6 million voters or just over 42%. His nearest
rival garnered less than 33% support. The Marxist leaning
leader with no political lineage rode a wave of support
as a candidate of change, change that many felt
was desperately needed after Sr I Lanka's economic collapse in
2022 he acknowledged in his inaugural speech on Monday that
Sr I Lankans have a very negative view of politicians
. We have a deep understanding that we have a
challenging country. Our politics must be cleaner. He
said we will commit ourselves to that. He's promised
to cut taxes and free up revenue for public investment
, but to deliver on policy he needs a parliament
that reflects his program and he's betting a snap election
will give him that the National People's Power Alliance which
includes Dissanayake SJ Party held just three seats in the
last parliament. Sr I Lanka agreed to a four
year$2.9 billion IMF bailout program that has helped boost
reserves stem a fall in its currency and tame runaway
inflation. But the bailout came with strings attached including
austerity measures, angry voters pinned hopes of a better
future on their next leader in his bid for office
. Dissanayake said he wanted to revisit the terms of
the IMF bailout but to pass a budget, he
needs parliamentary support. Sr I Lanka is in the
middle of restructuring about$25 billion in foreign debt.
Getting parliamentary backing will strengthen the tsar's hands in negotiations
with bondholders. Those creditors may be reassured if the
new president can clarify his policy with such a narrow
bench in parliament. The new president was unable to
staff a full roster of ministers. On Tuesday,
the tsar unveiled his cabinet pick and it only has
three members. One is a first time lawmaker now
Prime Minister who will handle five portfolios. Another veteran
legislator is now foreign Minister and overseeing five other ministries
, key ministries such as finance, defense and energy
are all run by Dissanayake himself. The snap general
election was widely expected as part of Dissanayake s plan
to fix many of the issues that have his hands 00:03:13.683 --> tied.