‘We’ve tried everybody else’: what’s next for Sri Lanka’s turn to the left?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 13 November 2024
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sri Lanka has seen it all: from the 2022 economic collapse, the mass protests that followed, and the legacy of a 26-year civil war. As the newly elected president Anura Kumara Dissanayake vows to steer the island back on track, can he repay IMF debt without jeopardizing citizens' livelihoods?
In this episode:
- Minelle Fernandez, Al Jazeera Correspondent
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé with Chloe K. Li, Duha Mosaad, Cole van Miltenburg, and our host Kevin Hirten, in for Malika Bilal. It was edited by Alexandra Locke.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.
Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, the aftermath of Sri Lanka's political earthquake. |
| 0:15.0 | The people have spoken, choosing a candidate who's pled change and a country free of corruption. |
| 0:23.8 | With a parliamentary election around the corner, can the new president get what he wants to |
| 0:29.6 | deliver on his promises? |
| 0:33.1 | I'm Kevin Horton, and this is The Take. |
| 0:48.1 | In Sri Lanka, the presidency has been something of a family business for decades. |
| 0:51.0 | If it's not one political dynasty, it's another. |
| 0:53.8 | But not Sri Lanka's new president. Excitement reached fever pitch as the man who warned Sri Lanka's presidential election |
| 0:59.0 | arrived at the election commission. |
| 1:01.0 | Plain speaking and outside the country's dynasty politics, |
| 1:05.0 | Anurukumara Disanayaka turned up in the most modest of vehicles among many of the candidates. |
| 1:11.6 | He's someone from a rural area, a member of a political party that has led two armed uprisings against the state decades ago. |
| 1:19.6 | But until very recently, they have never been even close to power. |
| 1:24.6 | We announced that Anura Kumar Disanayaka has been legally elected as per the |
| 1:28.6 | 1981 Presidential Elections Act. It's people's support and their mandate that gives a government |
| 1:34.3 | strength and guidance. Therefore, in order to come out of the mess this country had fallen into, |
| 1:39.0 | we felt the need to restore rule that has the people's mandate. So how could he become president? |
| 1:48.4 | It has been a massive change of fortunes from 3% that he garnered when he contested the last |
| 1:56.6 | presidential election to winning the presidency. |
| 2:00.0 | Minnell Fernandez has been watching closely from Sri Lanka's capital as the country heads to |
| 2:05.1 | its next election for a new parliament on Thursday. |
... |
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