Marxist-leaning politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake has taken his oath as Sri Lanka’s new president after he was confirmed the winner of Saturday’s election.

Dissanayake took his oath at the Presidential Secretariat building in Colombo early Monday morning.

He said that he understood the difficulty of the problems facing Sri Lanka and would work hard to realise people’s hopes and win the assurance of all Sri Lankans.

After the oath Dissanayake said that“I will do my best to fully restore the people’s confidence in politicians.”

“I am not a conjurer, I am not a magician,” he added. “There are things I know and things I don’t know, but I will seek the best advice and do my best. For that, I need the support of everyone.”