Sri Lanka’s new leader appoints first female prime minister for 24 years

Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Tuesday swore in an opposition politician as his prime minister, making her the country’s first woman to head the government in 24 years.

Harini Amarasuriya, 54, a university lecturer and activist, comes from a similar background as Mr Dissanayake and both are members of the Marxist-leaning National People’s Power coalition.

His victory in Saturday’s election over ex-president Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa came as Sri Lankans rejected the old political guard whom they blamed for pushing the country into an unprecedented economic crisis.

The last woman to serve as prime minister, the second most-powerful position after the president, was Sirimavo Bandaranaike. She was also the world’s first female head of government when she took up the post in 1960, and served three terms until 2000.

Mr Dissanayake’s first major challenge will be to act on his campaign promise to ease the crushing austerity measures imposed by his predecessor Mr Wickremesinghe under a relief agreement with the International Monetary Fund, after Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt.

Mr Wickremesinghe has warned that any move to alter the basics of the bailout agreement could delay the release of a fourth tranche of nearly three billion dollars (£2.25 billion).

Sri Lanka’s politics have mostly been dominated by men since the island nation introduced universal suffrage in 1931.

Ms Bandaranaike’s younger daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga, later became the country’s first and only female president, holding office from 1994 to 2005.