For decades, Sri Lankan politics has looked like a revolving door through which the same parties and families have come and gone.

But some say the South Asian nation's new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, heralds a "new era of renaissance". 

Unlike many of Sri Lanka's past presidents, Mr Dissanayake has no political lineage and is from the socialist National People's Power (NPP) party which he founded in 2019.

On Tuesday, he appointed academic and first-time MP Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister — making her the third woman to be appointed to the post.

The NPP has just three of 225 seats in the current parliament, prompting Mr Dissanayake to dissolve the legislature to seek a fresh mandate there for his policies.

The snap election, to be held on November 14, could help him take control of the chamber while his approval ratings remain intact.

Brisbane-based Mangala Jayasekera has helped organise community events across Australia — some of which Mr Dissanayake travelled from Sri Lanka to attend.

"He came from nothing," said Mr Jayasekera, 59, who works as a data technician.

A historic vote for former leftist revolutionaries

In last weekend's election, Mr Dissanayake received 5.6 million — 42.3 per cent — of the votes.

This was a massive boost to the 3 per cent he managed in the last presidential election in 2019.

It was the first time in the country's history that the presidential race was decided by a second tally of votes after the top two candidates failed to win the mandatory 50 per cent of votes required to be declared victorious.

Mr Dissanayake heads the NPP, a political alliance that also includes his other party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

The JVP was formerly a revolutionary movement that launched two armed uprisings against the Sri Lankan government in 1971 and 1989. 

The motive for both uprisings, which killed thousands, was to establish a Marxist-Leninist socialist state.

It has continued to back strong state intervention and other leftist economic policies.

But Kaveen Athuraliya, a 24-year-old postgraduate student from Sri Lanka who lives in Melbourne, said Mr Dissanayake's Marxist label was not so black and white. 

"He has had to adapt his ideology to run a country that has for very long been ruled by the right-wing," Mr Athuraliya said. 

For some of Sri Lanka's younger generation the election result "was a portrayal of true democracy", he said.

Many see Dissanayake as 'clean', unlike the long-ruling Rajapaksa family

For decades, the Rajapaksa family dominated local-level politics before Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected the country's president in 2005.

Appealing to the nation's Buddhist-Sinhalese majority, Mahinda led Sri Lanka into a victory over ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009 — ending a brutal 26-year civil war. 

He and his younger brother Gotabaya, formerly a powerful strategist in the defence ministry, have denied widespread allegations of atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan military during the war.

For Mr Jayasekera, the new president "is a clean guy", and "nothing like" the recent cycle of Sri Lanka's presidents and prime ministers.

Mahinda remained in office until 2015 and the family made a comeback in 2019, when Gotabaya won the presidential election in the wake of Easter Sunday suicide bombings that killed 290 people.

Gotabaya's policies led to an economic crisis and shortages of food, cooking gas and medicine, culminating in a popular uprising against his government.

In July 2022, he fled the country and resigned as president after weeks of mass protests.

"They made all these promises to the people. But they never delivered on them," Mr Jayasekera said. 

"The people of Sri Lanka always wanted to kick these two out," he said. 

'He needs to deliver on what he says'

Many Sri Lankans in Australia are optimistic about changes Mr Dissanayake may bring to the country.

"It doesn't matter if we are living in Australia now. We want to make our country, Sri Lanka, a better country," Mr Jayasekera said.

Melbourne man Nihal Fernando, 71, echoed this sentiment.

"In the last 76 years, under the parties who had governed the country, it wasn't democratic or good governance," said Mr Fernando, who had been a member of the JVP before moving to Australia in 1989. 

Mr Fernando said Mr Dissanayake's win was vital for Sri Lankans "who have been longing for real change in the country". 

However, he said the president needed to live up to the public's expectations. 

"He needs to deliver on what he says he will deliver to the country. People will be patient with him for a little while, I think," Mr Fernando said.

Mixed feelings for some

Ethnic Tamils make up 12 per cent of Sri Lanka's population of 22 million, and have historically been marginalised including in the political system.

For Sri Lankan Tamil woman Cammy Joseph, who lives in Melbourne, the election result brought on "a mix of apprehension and hope".

Ms Joseph said she felt uncertain about Mr Dissanayake's plans for guiding the country toward economic recovery.

But it was good that nationalism or religion "weren't the main focus for any of the primary candidates", she said.

"Instead, we saw the youth engaged in debates around policies and constitutional amendments … as someone from a minority, this is incredibly significant for me."

Ms Joseph hopes the new government will initiate meaningful changes "to address the struggles of the north", where the majority of Sri Lankan Tamils live.

ABC/wires