A stunning electoral victory for the new left-wing president and his party has transformed Sri Lanka’s political landscape, but the cash-strapped island’s new rulers soon realized it was easier to make campaign promises than to deliver.

Anura Kumar Dissanayake extraordinary victory In September’s presidential election, his National Alliance for People’s Power (NPP) soon won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections.

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

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

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

In November, the NPP won 159 seats in the 225-member parliament, reaching an unprecedented two-thirds majority, giving Dissanayake a sweeping mandate to push for major economic and constitutional reforms.

However, even if the result comes in, the new president must prepare to meet a visiting delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with whom the outgoing government has negotiated a $2.9bn (£2.31bn) bailout package .

The IMF deal sparked controversy because it led to harsh austerity measures, tax increases and energy subsidy cuts – hitting ordinary people hard.

During the campaign, Dissanayake and his coalition promised that they would renegotiate parts of the IMF deal.

But in his speech to the new parliament, he made a U-turn.

“The economy is in a state where it cannot withstand the slightest shock… There is no room for error,” Dissanayake said.

“Now is not the time to discuss whether the terms (of the International Monetary Fund loan) are good or bad, whether the agreement is good for us… This process took about two years and we cannot start all over again.”

Voters’ overwhelming support for the NPP is seen as the culmination of a popular uprising triggered by the economic crisis. uprising President Gotabaya Rajapaksa overthrown In the summer of 2022, Sri Lanka ran out of foreign currency and struggled to import food and fuel.

The country earlier declared bankruptcy after defaulting on some $46 billion in foreign debt. India, China and Japan have all provided billions of dollars in loans.

Recent election results also reflect anger against the established parties of former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe, among others, for their failure to deal with the economic collapse.

“One of Dissanayake’s top priorities is to provide some economic relief to the people to deal with over-taxation and the cost of living crisis. Debt management is another big challenge,” senior political analyst Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda told the BBC.

So far, the massive political changes appear to have had no impact on people like Niluka Dilrukshi, a mother of four who lives on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo. Her husband is a daily wage earner and the family is still having a hard time.

British Broadcasting Corporation talk to her In January 2022, just months before mass protests broke out, the cost of living soared.

She said her family was eating only two meals a day instead of three, and because of the high cost of fish and meat, they fed their children only vegetables and rice.

“We are still struggling to balance the books and nothing has changed. Prices of rice, a staple food, have increased further. We are not getting any relief from the government,” Ms. Dilukesh said.

People like her want the new government to take immediate steps to lower the cost of essential goods. Sri Lanka is an import-dependent country and requires foreign exchange to import items such as food and medicine.

Currently, Colombo is able to retain its currency reserves because it has suspended debt repayments.

Experts say the real struggle could begin in the next three or four years when debt repayments begin.

If people’s living standards do not change significantly in the next two to three years, people’s views on President Dissanayake and his new government may change.

“People have given him a huge mandate. The IMF should respect that and allow him to provide some relief to the people through social welfare programmes,” Professor Uyangoda said.

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

“Both India and China will try to bring Colombo into their sphere of influence. I think the new government’s foreign policy will be very pragmatic and will not ally with anyone,” Professor Uyangoda said.

After careful diplomacy, 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 long-term interconnection of the two countries’ power grids.

China’s growing foothold in Sri Lanka, particularly the docking of Chinese “scientific research” ships at the island’s ports – so close to India’s southern tip – has raised concerns in Delhi.

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

Delhi will no doubt be pleased with the assurance, but Dissanayake will find out what Beijing expects when he visits China in mid-January.