Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power faces legacy of civil war

President Anura Kumara Disanayake and his National People’s Power Government are struggling to build a more stable, inclusive political culture in Sri Lanka. A mix of bold action and political skill will be needed. Support from the UN Human Rights Council can help.

- Alan Keenan

THE election of President Anura Kumara Disanayake in September 2024, and the landslide parliamentary victory of his National People’s Power (NPP) alliance two months later, have ignited hope throughout Sri Lanka. Elected on a mandate to eliminate the widely reported large-scale corruption, nepotism and abuse of power that contributed to the country’s economic collapse in 2022, the NPP appealed to voters in large part because it lacked experience in office and was distant from the elite-dominated parties that had ruled Sri Lanka since independence in 1948. Among their more soaring goals, Disanayake and the NPP pledged to fight impunity and establish a “new political culture”.

This culture would, among other things, end the divisive ethno-religious politics that led to 30 years of war and foster peaceful coexistence among all Sri Lankans-Tamils, Muslims and the Sinhalese Buddhist majority. The Government’s first year in power, however, has been something of a letdown for constituencies that hoped to see concrete moves toward this promised new culture. Disappointment is particularly strong among Tamils and Muslims living in the northern and eastern provinces, who see little tangible progress on the confidence-building measures Disanayake and the NPP promised.