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Western diplomats congratulate Sri Lanka’s president-elect 

Following Anura, Kumara Dissanayake’s victory at Sri Lanka’s presidential elections earlier this week, diplomats from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, France and Germany have issued statements of congratulation for the president-elect. 

These statements come ahead of Sri Lanka’s review meeting with the International Monetary Fund to agree the next tranche of funding, worth an estimated $350 million. Dissanayake has repeatedly said that his party would seek to “re-negotiate” the terms of the agreement, despite the objections of the former State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe, who warned of an imminent economic collapse if parliament is dissolved and a third review of the much-needed IMF loan is not completed.

Dissanayake has also repeatedly vowed to dissolve parliament “the very night” of any victory. His National People's Power (NPP) coalition only has three lawmakers in parliament, and with a five-year presidential term set to commence, Dissanayake will likely seek to consolidate support in the legislative body but holding a parliamentary election.

Tamils across the North and East overwhelming did not support Dissanayake. Dissanayake stands opposed to efforts to advance accountability stating that his party "will not seek to punish anyone accused of rights violations and war crimes".

“Even the victims do not expect anyone to be punished,” he claimed, despite Tamils repeatedly calling for an international accountability mechanism and for Sri Lanka to be taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

His party has also openly embraced military officials implicated in war crimes such as retired general Aruna Jayasekara, reportedly entrusting him with their defence policy. Jeyasekara was the commander of the 3rd contingent to Haiti during a Sri Lankan peacekeeping operation that faced allegations of running a child sex trafficking ring during a UN peacekeeping operation from 2004 to 2007.

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