COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's new leftist president dissolved parliament on Tuesday and called for early elections as he prepares to renegotiate the International Monetary Fund's unpopular bailout programme for the bankrupt nation.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the self-declared Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) took office on Monday after a landslide victory in the weekend's presidential election.
On Tuesday night he dismissed the 225-member legislature, in which his once-fringe party held just three seats, and scheduled early elections for Nov. 14, nearly a year ahead of schedule, according to a notice in the government's official journal.
The order to dissolve parliament, whose mandate was due to end in August, takes effect immediately.
Despite being a fringe party, support for Dissanayake's 55-year-old JVP surged after the 2022 economic crisis that impoverished millions of ordinary Sri Lankans and the painful implementation of the IMF bailout plan.
Earlier on Tuesday, her office announced the appointment of lawmaker Harini Amarasuriya, 54, as chief minister with the additional portfolios of justice, education, health, women's affairs and labour.
A lawmaker from the party, Vijitha Herath, was appointed as the new foreign minister, with additional responsibilities for public security. Dissanayake retained the portfolios of defence, energy and agriculture.
The new prime minister, a sociology professor first elected to parliament four years ago, is known for her activism on gender equality and minority rights issues.
The group will share all ministerial responsibilities between them and will also act as caretaker ministers after parliament is dissolved.
“We will have the smallest cabinet in Sri Lanka's history,” party member Namal Karunaratne told reporters on Tuesday.
Just before the dissolution of parliament, the government announced that Dissanayake will address the nation on Wednesday evening.
The Sri Lanka crisis proved to be an opportunity for Dissanayake, whose popularity soared after he pledged to change what he called the island's corrupt political culture.
He beat out 38 other candidates to win Saturday's presidential election, garnering more than 1.2 million more votes than his nearest rival.
His predecessor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had imposed steep tax increases and other unpopular austerity measures under the terms of a $2.9 billion IMF bailout, came in a distant third.
The IMF congratulated Dissanayake on Monday and said it was ready to discuss the future of the bailout plan.
“We look forward to working together with President Dissanayake… to build on the hard-won progress that has helped put Sri Lanka on the path to economic recovery,” a spokesman for the lender of last resort said.
