Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Anura Kumara Dissanayake
අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක அநுர குமார திசாநாயக்க
File:Anura Kumara Dissanayake 2023 (cropped).jpg 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
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 serving as the tenth president of Sri Lanka since 2024. He is the current party leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the National People's Power.

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.

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. Having been involved in the JVP from his school days, Dissanayake joined the JVP in 1987, becoming active in student politics. He engaged in full-time political activities from 1987, with the onset of the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection. He entered the University of Peradeniya and left a few months later due to threats. He transferred to the University of Kelaniya a year later in 1992 and graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Legislative career (2000–2024)

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, with the other JVP Ministers, following JVP leader Amerasinghe's decision to quit the United People's Freedom Alliance in opposition to President Kumaranatunga government's controversial joint mechanism with the LTTE for tsunami relief co-ordination in the north and east provinces. He served as Chief Opposition Whip from September 2015 to December 2018.

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.

2019 presidential election

On 18 August 2019, the National People's Power, a political organization 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

On 29 August 2023, the NPP announced that Dissanayake would run for president again in 2024. He won the election with a landslide victory largely owning to the dissatisfaction of the previous governments following the ongoing Lankan economic crisis.

Presidency (2024–present)

See also: 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election

Dissanayake was inaugurated as president at the presidential secretariat on 23 September 2024. In his maiden speech as president, he promised to fulfill the commitments listed in the mandate although reiterating that it will 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 the secretary to the president, Ravi Seneviratne as the secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, and Sampath Thuyacontha as the secretary to the Ministry of Defence. On 24 September 2024, he appointed Harini Amarasuriya as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

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 the two other members of the JVP in Parliament to his cabinet. Later that day, he dissolved parliament 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. Dissanayake has pledged to dissolve parliament within 45 days of coming to power and to seek a general mandate for his policies. He ran on an anti-corruption and anti-poverty platform in the 2024 presidential election. 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 has been highly critical of the Government of Sri Lanka and the IMF, claiming that the IMF only wants to bail out corrupt regimes. He has stated that some of the IMF conditions need to be renegotiated, such as the reducing some 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, reducing the cost of living, increasing the taxes on wealthy while supporting their businesses. Dissanayake has committed to continuing the 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		Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna			65,966	Elected
2019 presidential	Sri Lanka		Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna		NPP	418,553	Lost
2020 parliamentary	Colombo District		Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna		NPP	49,814	Elected
2022 presidential	Sri Lanka		Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna		NPP	3 (E.V)	Lost
2024 presidential	Sri Lanka		Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna		NPP	5,740,179	Elected

External links

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