Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Anura Kumara Dissanayake
අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක அநுர குமார திசாநாயக்க
Dissanayake in 2023
10th President of Sri Lanka
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 September 2024
Prime Minister	Harini Amarasuriya
Preceded by	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Cabinet positions Minister of Agriculture, Land and Livestock In office 10 April 2004 – 24 June 2005 President Chandrika Kumaratunga Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa Preceded by S. B. Dissanayake Succeeded by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Incumbent Assumed office 23 September 2024 Preceded by Mahinda Amaraweera Succeeded by
Parliamentary positions Leader of the National People's Power Incumbent Assumed office 14 July 2019 Preceded by Position established Leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Incumbent Assumed office 29 September 2014 Preceded by Somawansa Amarasinghe Member of Parliament for Colombo district In office 1 September 2015 – 23 September 2024 Succeeded by Lakshman Nipuna Arachchi Chief Opposition Whip In office 3 September 2015 – 18 December 2018 Preceded by John Seneviratne Succeeded by Mahinda Amaraweera Member of Parliament for Kurunegala district In office 1 April 2004 – 8 April 2010 Member of Parliament for National List In office 22 April 2010 – 17 August 2015 In office 18 October 2000 – 7 February 2004
Personal details
Born	Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Anura Kumara Dissanayake (1968-11-24) 24 November 1968 Galewela, Matale District, Central Province, Dominion of Ceylon
Political party	Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
Other political affiliations	National People's Power
Spouse	Mallika Dissanayake
Children	1
Alma mater	University of Peradeniya (dropped out) University of Kelaniya
Signature
Website	www.akd.lk

Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Anura Kumara Dissanayake (born 24 November 1968), commonly referred to by his initials AKD, is a Sri Lankan politician currently serving as the tenth president of Sri Lanka since 23 September 2024. He is the current party leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the National People's Power (NPP).

Dissanayake has been involved with the JVP since his school days and was active in student politics at university before joining the JVP politburo in 1995. He has been a member of parliament since September 2000, having been either appointed from the national list or elected, Dissanayake served as the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation from 2004 to 2005 and Chief Opposition Whip from 2015 to 2018. He was named the leader of JVP at the 17th National Convention of the party, held on 2 February 2014.

Early life, education and student politics

Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Anura Kumara Dissanayake was born on 24 November 1968 in the village of Galewela, Matale District, Central Province, Sri Lanka. His father was an office worker and his mother was a housewife. He had one sister.

The family moved to the Anuradhapura district in the North Central Province and settled in Thambuthegama. Dissanayake received his education at the Thambuthegama Gamini Maha Vidyalaya and the Thambuthegama Central College, becoming the first student from the college to gain university entrance. He was involved with the JVP from his school days and became active in student politics during his university years. In 1987, he joined the JVP and began engaging in full-time political activities, especially with the onset of the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection. He joined alongside his first cousin Sunil Dissanayake who was called "Sunil Aiya" by Anura. Dissanayake initially enrolled at the University of Peradeniya but left due to safety concerns during the insurrection while his cousin Sunil was arrested, tortured and killed. Anura managed to survive by hiding, and his family who were non-political, were harrassed and their new modest brick house which they just moved from a Wattle and daub cottage, was burnt down as a warning to Anura. After the repression against the JVP ended and the situation became safe he transferred to the University of Kelaniya in 1992, where he completed his studies and graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Political career

JVP politburo

In 1995, he became the National Organizer of the Socialist Students Association and was appointed to the Central Working Committee of the JVP. He was appointed to the Politburo of the JVP in 1998. The JVP supported Chandrika Kumaratunga in the 1994 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, having re-entered mainstream politics under Somawansa Amarasinghe. However, the party later became vocal critics of the Kumaratunga administration.

Cabinet minister

He entered parliament in 2000, following the 2000 Sri Lankan parliamentary election from the National list of the JVP and was reappointed following the 2001 Sri Lankan parliamentary election. In 2004, the JVP allied with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), contesting as a part of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the 2004 parliamentary elections and win 39 seats in the parliament. Dissanayake was elected to parliament from the Kurunegala District from the UPFA and was appointed by President Kumaranatunga as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation in the joint SLFP–JVP government in February 2004. He resigned his ministerial portfolio on 16 June 2005, along with the other JVP ministers, following JVP leader Amerasinghe's decision to withdraw from the UPFA due to their opposition to President Kumaranatunga's controversial joint tsunami relief co-ordination with the LTTE in the North and Eastern provinces.

JVP party leader

On 2 February 2014, during the 17th National Convention of the JVP, Dissanayake was named as the new leader of the JVP, succeeding Somawansa Amarasinghe. Following his election as the leader, he apologised for the killings by the JVP during the second insurrection.

Following the 2015 parliamentary election, he served as Chief Opposition Whip from September 2015 to December 2018.

2019 presidential election

On 18 August 2019, the National People's Power, a political alliance led by the JVP, announced that Dissanayake would be its presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential elections. Dissanayake came in third place with 3% of the vote, receiving 418,553 votes.

2024 presidential election

See also: 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election

On 29 August 2023, the NPP announced that Dissanayake would run for president again in 2024. The first vote count concluded with Dissanayake winning a plurality of the vote with 42.31%, followed by SJB candidate Sajith Premadasa with 32.76%. Since no candidate won a majority, a second round of vote counting was held. Dissanayake was declared the winner after the second count, securing 55.89% of the vote. Dissanayake's victory was largely attributed to the dissatisfaction of the previous governments amidst the nation's ongoing economic crisis.

Presidency (2024–present)

Dissanayake was inaugurated as president at the presidential secretariat on 23 September 2024. In his inaugural speech as president, he promised to fulfill the commitments listed in the mandate, reiterating that it would take time for the country to change. He also alluded to the proposal of parliamentary elections, so that a new government can be formed.

Dissanayake appointed members to his interim cabinet, which included Ananda Wijepala as the private secretary to his president, Nandika Sanath Kumanayaka as secretary to the president, Ravi Seneviratne as secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, and Sampath Thuyacontha as the secretary to the Ministry of Defence.

Due to the seat of Dissanayake being vacant in parliament, Lakshman Nipuna Arachchi was appointed as the former's replacement as MP for the Colombo district.

Dissanayake visited the Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, where he received blessings and later vowed to uncover the truth surrounding the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.

On 24 September, Dissanayake appointed MP Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister, the third woman to hold the position. He also appointed her as concurrent minister for justice, education and labour. Aside from Amarasuriya, Dissanayake also appointed Vijitha Herath, another NPP MP in Parliament to his cabinet. Later that day, he dissolved the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka and called for early legislative elections scheduled on 14 November.

Political positions

Dissanayake has been characterised in media as a Marxist and a neo-Marxist. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Dissanayake pledged to dissolve the then-incumbent parliament within 45 days of coming to power and seek a general mandate for his policies. He ran on a platform of anti-corruption and anti-poverty in 2024. Dhananath Fernando, CEO of the Colombo-based pro-market think tank Advocata Institute, said that Dissanayake "now advocates for a pro-trade approach, emphasising the simplification of the tariff structure, improving the business environment, reforming tax administration, ending corruption and positioning the private sector as the engine of growth. However, his stance on debt negotiations remains unclear."

Tax reform

Dissanayake was highly critical of the Wickremesinghe government and the International Monetary Fund, claiming that the IMF only wished to bail out corrupt regimes. He stated that some of the IMF conditions need to be renegotiated, such as the reduction of certain taxes such as the pay-as-you-earn tax, as this has outperformed, while reducing expenditure to meet the primary surplus target. He has indicated that his government would increase social welfare grants while eliminating value-added taxes on essential items such as food, health services, medical equipment, and educational services. His government would reduce the cost of living and increase taxes on the wealthy while supporting their businesses. Since assuming the presidency, Dissanayake has committed to continuing the country's deal with the IMF.

Electoral history

Electoral history of Anura Kumara Dissanayaka

Election	Constituency	Party		Alliance		Votes	Result
2004 parliamentary	Kurunegala District		Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna		UPFA	153,868	Elected
2015 parliamentary	Colombo District					65,966	Elected
2019 presidential	Sri Lanka				NPP	418,553	Lost
2020 parliamentary	Colombo District					49,814	Elected
2022 presidential	Sri Lanka					3 (E.V)	Lost
2024 presidential						5,740,179	Elected

External links

• Official website
• Parliament profile
• Srinivasan, Meera (21 November 2018). "We think what happened on October 26 is a conspiracy, says Anura Kumara Dissanayake". The Hindu.