Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayake sworn in as Sri Lanka's president

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka's president on Monday after an election that saw voters reject an old guard accused of leading the country into economic crisis.

Dissanayake, 55, who ran as head of the Marxist-leaning National People's Power coalition, defeated opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and 36 other candidates in Saturday's election.

Dissanayake received 5,740,179 votes, followed by Premadasa with 4,530,902.

In a brief speech, the new president pledged to work with others to take on the country's challenges.

“We have deeply understood that we are going to get a challenging country," Dissanayake said. “We don’t believe that a government, a single party or an individual would be able to resolve this deep crisis.”

Just before the swearing in, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena resigned, clearing the way for the new president to appoint a prime minister and a cabinet.

The election came as the country seeks to recover from its worst economic crisis and resulting political upheaval.

He's the ninth person to hold Sri Lanka's powerful executive presidency, created in 1978 when a new constitution expanded the office's powers.

Dissanayake's coalition is led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, or People’s Liberation Front, a Marxist party that waged two unsuccessful armed insurrections in the 1970s and 1980s to capture power through socialist revolution. After its defeat, the JVP entered democratic politics in 1994 and has been mostly in opposition since then. However, they have supported several previous presidents and been part of governments briefly.

The NPP also includes groups representing academics, civil society movements, artists, lawyers and students.

Dissanayake was first elected to Parliament in 2000 and briefly held the portfolio of agriculture and irrigation minister under then-President Chandrika Kumaratunga. He ran for president for the first time in 2019 and lost to Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Dissanayake's first major challenge will be to act on his campaign promise to ease the crushing austerity measures imposed by his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe under a relief agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

Wickremesinghe has warned that any move to alter the basics of the agreement could delay the release of a fourth tranche of nearly $3 billion.

That economic crisis resulted from excessive borrowing to fund projects that did not generate revenue, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government’s insistence on using scarce foreign reserves to prop up its currency, the rupee.

It led to shortages of essentials such as foods, medicines, cooking gas and fuel in 2022, triggering massive protests that forced then-president Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.

Wickremesinghe, then prime minister, was elected by Parliament to fill the remainder of Rajapaksa's term.

Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, right, is sworn in as Sri Lanka's tenth president by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, left at the Sri Lankan President's Office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept.23, 2024. President's secretary Saman Ekanayake is in center. (Sri Lankan President's Office via AP)

Commanders of the security forces stand behind as Sri Lanka's new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, addresses a gathering after he was sworn in at the Sri Lankan President's Office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept.23, 2024. (Sri Lankan President's Office via AP)

Supporters of Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake cheer outside the president's office as he arrives to be sworn in as Sri Lanka’s tenth president in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

A supporter waves Sri Lankan flag as he waits for the swearing in ceremony of president elect Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake out side president's office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Newspapers with headlines about Sri Lanka's new president elect Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake are on display in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

A supporter tucks a portrait of president elect Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake on to his trousers as he waits for the swearing in ceremony outside president's office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Newspapers with headlines about the new president elect Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake are on display in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Supporters of Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake cheer outside the president's office as he arrives to be sworn in as Sri Lanka’s tenth president in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake waves as he departs the election commission office after winning the presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis canceled his audiences Monday because of a “slight flu-like state” just days before he is to embark on a trip to Belgium and Luxembourg, the Vatican said.

The move was described as a “precaution” in the statement from the Vatican.

Francis is due to visit Luxembourg on Thursday and then spend the rest of the week in Belgium, ending with a Mass in Brussels on Sunday.

Francis, 87, who has battled a series of health problems in recent years, has had a packed schedule of audiences since returning from a four-nation, 11-day journey through Asia on Sept. 13. It was the longest and farthest trip of his pontificate.

The statement from the Holy See press office described Francis as having a “flu-like state.” Through much of last winter, Francis battled acute bronchitis and recurring bouts of influenza, which forced him to cancel a quick trip to Dubai to participate in the U.N. climate conference.

In Belgium, Francis is due to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the country’s main Catholic universities, and minister to Belgians who have been rocked by years of unrelenting revelations of clergy sexual abuse and cover-up.

Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis gives his thumbs up as he arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis waves during the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)