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1 1 (December 2, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govermo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Sri Lanka: Background and Issues for Congress The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a constitutional democracy situated off the southeastern tip of India's Deccan Peninsula in the heart of the Indian Ocean. Located along key shipping lanes, Sri Lanka and its Port of Colombo-already a significant global shipping hub-have grown in strategic importance as conflicts in the Middle East have disrupted shipping in the Red Sea. The State Department has described Sri Lanka as in the middle of the geopolitical competition for regional influence. A democracy since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon until 1972) was governed by two major political parties and their offshoots until September 2024. From 1983 to 2009 the government, dominated by the Buddhist Sinhalese majority, fought a brutal civil war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Hindu Tamil minority objects to long-standing official discrimination, and the militant LTTE fought to establish a separate state in northern Sri Lanka. During the war, the government expanded executive power, militarized the country, and limited civil freedoms. In 2022, Sri Lanka experienced its worst economic crisis since independence, sparking a public uprising that drove former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from power. In September 2024, Sri Lankans elected Anura Kumara Dissanayake as president, and in November 2024 gave his National People's Power (NPP) alliance a landslide victory in snap parliamentary elections. Starting in the late 2000s, U.S. policy focused on broadening Sri Lanka's democratic institutions, promoting good governance and human rights, and facilitating post- war reconciliation. Since the 2022 economic and political crises, U.S. priorities have expanded to include supporting economic reforms and more inclusive growth. U.S. policymakers, including many in Congress, also have raised concerns about the Sri Lankan government's growing ties to the People's Republic of China (PRC, or China) over the past two decades. Under former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005-2015) and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa (2019-2022), Sri Lanka's government relied on China to support its fight against the LTTE, as well as numerous post-war development projects, causing some observers to express concern about the potential for China to exert economic and military influence in a key part of the region. Sri Lankas 2022 Twin Crises In early 2022, inflation reached 60%, the currency depreciated by over 80% against the U.S. dollar, foreign reserves dropped almost to zero, and the government defaulted on its debt. Gross domestic product contracted by roughly 7.9%, poverty doubled (to 25% of the population), and half a million jobs were lost. In March 2022, thousands of Sri Lankans began protesting the government's handling of the economy, which had resulted in fuel shortfalls, medicine and food shortages, and Updated December 2, 2024 rolling blackouts. On April 1, 2022, Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency and gave the military sweeping powers to arrest and detain demonstrators. On April 12, the government announced it was defaulting on its foreign debt of $51 billion. Its imposition of a curfew and a military shoot to kill order failed to quell protests, and in July both Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa (then serving as prime minister) resigned. Parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe, a former prime minister, as president, in accordance with Sri Lanka's constitution. Figure I. Sri Lanka at a Glance The 2024 Elections On September 23, 2024, Sri Lankans elected Dissanayake as president. He immediately called snap parliamentary elections for November 14, 2024, and his NPP alliance, a coalition of socialist parties that includes Dissanayake's Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, or People's Liberation Front), won nearly 62% of the vote and secured 159 of 225 seats in parliament. (In the previous parliament, the NPP held 3 seats.) The NPP dominated in all but one district, including Tamil-majority Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka- the first time a Sinhalese party won the district. Dissanayake and the NPP campaigned on anti-corruption and relief for working-class Sri Lankans who have borne the brunt of the country's economic woes. After casting his vote, Dissanayake said the election will mark a turning point in Sri Lanka.

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