President, PM congratulate newly sworn-in Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Both leaders noted Pakistan's strong ties with Sri Lanka, emphasizing their mutual cooperation across various sectors.

COLOMBO:

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended their felicitations to the newly elected President of Sri Lanka.

PM Shehbaz posted a message on micro-blogging website X, saying, "My sincere felicitation to Anura Kumara Dissanayake on his victory in the presidential elections of Sri Lanka."

In his congratulatory message, President Asif Ali Zardari stated that Pakistan greatly valued its ties with the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as both countries enjoyed excellent cooperation in various areas of mutual interest

Sri Lanka's leftist President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayaka on Sunday invited his compatriots to help him "rewrite" history in the cash-strapped island nation after winning a vote coloured by discontent over an unprecedented financial crisis.

Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, the 55-year-old leader of the People's Liberation Front, was declared the winner of the weekend's poll with nearly 1.3 million more votes than his nearest rival.

The once-fringe leader, whose party won less than four percent of the vote in parliamentary elections four years ago, saw a surge of support as the economic meltdown forced widespread hardships upon Sri Lankans.

"The dream we have nurtured for centuries is finally coming true," he said in a statement shortly after the announcement.

"This victory belongs to all of us," he added. "Millions of eyes filled with hope and expectation push us forward, and together, we stand ready to rewrite Sri Lankan history."

Outgoing President Ranil Wickremesinghe -- who took office at the peak of the 2022 economic collapse and imposed tough austerity policies per the terms of an IMF bailout -- was a distant third in the contest with 17 percent of the vote.

"History will judge my efforts, but I can confidently say that I did my best to stabilise the country during one of its darkest periods," he said in a statement.

He congratulated Dissanayaka on the win and said he was "confident" the politician would "steer Sri Lanka on a path of continued growth and stability".

US ambassador Julie Chung also passed on her congratulations, saying in a statement that Washington stood "ready to work together on shared priorities" with the next administration.

Dissanayaka will be sworn in on Monday morning at the colonial-era President Secretariat in Colombo, election commission officials said.

Economic issues dominated the eight-week campaign, with widespread public anger over the belt-tightening measures imposed by Wickremesinghe since the peak of the island nation's bruising financial crisis. Dissanayaka would "not tear up" the IMF deal but would seek to modify it, a party politburo member told AFP.

"It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate," said Bimal Ratnayake.

He said Dissanayaka had vowed to reduce income taxes that were doubled by Wickremesinghe and slash sales taxes on food and medicines.

"We think we can get those reductions into the programme and continue with the four-year bailout programme," he said.

Dissanayaka's once-marginal Marxist party led two failed uprisings in the 1970s and 1980s that left more than 80,000 people dead.

But Sri Lanka's crisis has proven an opportunity for Dissanayaka, whose popularity rocketed on his pledge to change the island's "corrupt" political culture.

Dissanayaka's party sought to reassure India that any administration he led would not be caught up in geopolitical rivalry between its northern neighbour and China, the country's largest lender. Thousands of police were deployed to keep watch over voting on Saturday.