Anura Kumara Dissanayake Wins Historic Sri Lankan Presidential Election

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, was declared the winner of the Sri Lankan presidential election by the country's Election Commission. Dissanayake won after an unprecedented second round of counting, defeating Sajith Premadasa. Incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe was eliminated in the first round.

Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been declared the winner of the Sri Lankan presidential election by the Election Commission. The historic victory came after an unprecedented second round of vote counting, a first in the nation's election history.

Dissanayake, 56, who leads the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front, National People's Power (NPP), defeated his closest rival, Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). The incumbent president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was eliminated in the first round after failing to secure a position among the top two candidates.

The NPP announced that Dissanayake will take his oath of office on Monday. This election saw no candidate initially securing over 50% of the vote, prompting the second round of counting, a unique occurrence in Sri Lankan electoral history. Dissanayake will become the country's ninth president.

(With inputs from agencies.)