Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake rose from a humble background to the pinnacle of leadership in Sri Lanka, presenting himself as a transformative leader to young voters and those tired of the “corrupt politics” of the traditional politicians.
Dissanayake, 56, popularly known as AKD, was on Sunday declared the winner of Saturday’s presidential election.
The election on Saturday was the first to be held since mass protests unseated Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 after the country suffered an economic crisis.
His accession to the post is a remarkable turnaround for his half-century-old party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which had long remained on the margins. He is Sri Lankaâs first-ever Marxist party leader to become head of state.
The leader of the JVP’s broader front, the National Peopleâs Power (NPP), Dissanayake’s anti-corruption message and his promise of a change in political culture resonated strongly with young voters who have been demanding system change since the economic crisis.
The NPP’s popularity has risen sharply since 2022 after securing only around three per cent of the vote in the last presidential election in 2019.
“In our country, only an un-corrupt force will take action against the corrupt. The slogan of punishing the corrupt has been echoed on stage since 1994 under Chandrika ( Kumaratunga), Mahinda (Rajapaksa), Maithripala (Sirisena) and Gotabaya (Rajapaksa). The corrupt will never punish the corrupt. The corrupt always protect the corrupt. It is the NPPâs priority to end corruption,” he said in an interview with Daily Mail online in August.