Hi, this is Michelle. As Sri Lanka ushers into a new political era with the election of leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, many hope it will end years of economic turmoil and political instability.
However, the scars from the civil war run deep. According to human rights activist Fernando Ruki, confronting them is fundamental to Sri Lanka’s path to recovery. |
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Ruki Fernando, Sri Lankan human rights activist, in Geneva, 23 September 2024. (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)
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The victory of the leftist, anti-establishment candidate, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in Sri Lanka’s presidential elections on Sunday has raised hopes that the country is at a turning point. The election, the first to be held since mass protests ousted the former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022, was seen as a firm rejection of a political elite widely blamed for Sri Lanka’s debt default and economic collapse.
Dissanayake has vowed to weed out corruption, address the economic crisis that plunged millions into poverty and renegotiate the International Monetary Fund’s bailout. But a deeper national trauma hunts Sri Lanka – one that if left unresolved, could hinder the country’s recovery.
“The war in Sri Lanka led to a lot of human rights violations and ethnic polarisation, particularly between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil numerical minority,” says Ruki Fernando as he quietly sips a hot cup of Ceylon tea. It’s 9 am, and a cool breeze drifts into the cramped kitchen of the apartment he’s staying in, a walk from Geneva’s train station.
Read the full story on Geneva Solutions.
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📈We need a new global measure for poverty.
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New York Times (EN)
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