It will be difficult to keep the promises of the new leader in Sri Lanka.

A new left-leaning president and his party’s landslide election victory have transformed Sri Lanka’s political landscape – but the cash-strapped island’s new rulers are quickly realizing that campaign promises are backfiring. It is easy to accomplish.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake A remarkable victory Presidential elections in September were quickly followed by a landslide victory for his National People’s Power (NPP) coalition in parliamentary elections.

As the new year begins, he and his supporters want it to be a turning point for the country, which is trying to recover from a devastating economic crisis and years of mismanagement.

However, they have limited room for maneuver to deliver on their promises to voters, who have high expectations from the new government.

Since the financial crisis of 2022, economic recovery has been fragile and Sri Lanka is far from out of the woods.

The NPP won 159 seats in the 225-member assembly in November – an unprecedented two-thirds majority – giving Dissanayake a major mandate to push through major economic and constitutional reforms.

However, even as the results were coming in, the new president had to prepare to meet a visiting delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with which the outgoing government had pledged $2.9bn (£2.31bn). The bailout package was discussed. .

The IMF agreement became controversial because it led to strict austerity measures, tax increases and energy subsidies. There were cuts – which hit the common man hard.

During the campaign, Dissanayake and his coalition promised to renegotiate parts of the IMF agreement.

But in his address to the new Parliament, he took a U-turn.

“The economy is in such a state that it cannot take even the slightest shock… there is no room for mistakes,” Dissanayake said.

“This is not the time to talk about if terms [of the IMF loan] Good or bad, if the deal is in our favor or not… the process took almost two years, and we can’t start over.”

The overwhelming voter verdict for the NPP is seen as the culmination of a popular uprising stemming from the economic crisis. Rebellion Deposed President Gotabaya Rajapakse In the summer of 2022, when Sri Lanka ran out of foreign currency and struggled to import food and fuel.

The country had earlier declared bankruptcy after defaulting on its external debt of nearly $46 billion. Among the borrowers of billions of dollars are India, China and Japan.

The recent election results also reflected popular anger against the established political parties – former presidents Mahinda Rajapakse and Ranil Wickremesinghe and others – for failing to manage the economic downturn.

“One of Dessanayake’s priorities will be to give some economic relief to the people because of the crisis of excessive taxation and inflation. Debt management,” veteran political analyst Professor Jaydeva Uyangoda told the BBC. There is another big challenge.”

So far, the sweeping political changes haven’t affected people like Niluka Dalrokshi, a mother of four who lives in a suburb of the capital, Colombo. Her husband is a daily wage laborer and it is still difficult for her family to survive.

The BBC Talked to him In January 2022, several months before mass protests began, about the rising cost of living.

At the time, she said her family was eating only two meals a day instead of three, and she was giving her children only vegetables and rice due to the high cost of fish and meat.

“We are still struggling to meet our needs and nothing has changed. The price of rice, the staple food, has gone up. We are not getting any relief from the government,” says Mrs Dilrokshi. ” says Mrs. Dilrokshi.

People like him want the new government to take immediate steps to bring down the prices of essential commodities. Sri Lanka is an import-dependent country, and needs foreign currency to bring in goods such as food and medicine.

For now, Colombo is able to maintain its currency reserves because it has suspended its debt payments.

The real struggle, experts say, will probably start in the next three or four years when he starts paying off his debt.

People’s perception of President Dissanayake and his new government may change if there is no marked change in his standard of living in the next two or three years.

“The people have given them a huge mandate. The IMF should respect that by allowing them to give some relief to the people through social welfare programmes,” says Professor Uyangoda.

Dissanayake must also contend with India and China, which are vying for influence in Sri Lanka, where both have invested heavily in recent years.

“Both India and China will try to bring Colombo under their sphere of influence. I think the new government’s foreign policy will be very pragmatic without allying with anyone,” says Professor Uyangoda.

In a careful diplomatic move, Dissanayake chose Delhi as his first official overseas destination in mid-December. During the visit, India pledged to supply liquefied natural gas to Sri Lanka’s power plants and work on connecting the two countries’ power grids in the long term.

China’s growing presence in Sri Lanka, particularly Chinese “research” vessels calling at ports on the island – near India’s southern tip – has raised concerns in Delhi.

“I have assured the Prime Minister of India that we will not allow our land to be used in any way that is detrimental to India’s interest,” Dessanayake said after his talks with Narendra Modi. “

Delhi will no doubt be happy with this assurance, but Beijing will know what the expectations are when Dissanayake visits China in mid-January.