Sri Lanka's new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, named college professor and first-time lawmaker Harini Amarasuriya as the new prime minister of the Indian Ocean island nation on Tuesday, making her the third woman to be appointed to the post.

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 Lanka's new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, is tasked with leading the island nation, which has long been led by powerful political families, out of its worst economic crisis in more than two generations.