Dissanayake made clear that the first order of business will be to impose savage International Monetary Fund austerity.

Sri Lankans elected Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake as their new president on Sunday, putting faith in his pledge to fight corruption and bolster a fragile economic recovery following the South Asian nation’s worst financial crisis in decades.

Marxist politician Anura Dissanayake won Sri Lanka’s presidential election over the weekend, dealing a blow to a political old guard that has been widely blamed for the unprecedented economic crisis that hit the South Asian island nation two years ago.