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.

Sri Lankans have elected Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the country's new president, giving the Marxist-leaning politician a key role in deciding the future of reforms in the debt-ridden nation that is slowly emerging from a crushing financial crisis.

"Anura Dissanayake, leader of the JVP and the National Peoples' Power (NPP), was elected as the ninth executive president of Sri Lanka in these elections. The victory of a Left candidate in the presidential election, for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka, is a historic occasion," the CPI (M) said.