President of Sri Lanka Dissanayake

Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake (56) won the presidential election in Sri Lanka. It is remarkable that for the first time in the history of the country’s elections, the result of the second round of vote counting has been revealed. Janata Vimukti Peram leader Dissanayake defeated his nearest rival, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa.

President Ranil Wickramasinghe (75) withdrew in the first round. In the first round of vote counting, Dissanayake came first with 42.31% of votes, Premadasa came second with 32.8% and Wickramasinghe came third with 17.27%.

However, as no one got the required 50 percent for victory, the second primary votes were counted and the winner was decided. The National People’s Power (NPP) has announced that Dissanayake will be sworn in as the 9th President of Sri Lanka on Monday. Indian Prime Minister Modi congratulated Dissanayake.

Anura Dissanayake popularly known as AKD was born in Thambuttegama, North Central Province. Studied degree at Kelaniya University near Colombo. Joined JVP in 1987. In 1971, 1987 and 1990, the JVP used violence to overthrow the governments. It is also anti-India. At that time, the Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardene government agreement was considered to be a violation of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

Dissanayake’s visit to India last February saw a change in the party’s stance. In the 90s, Dissanayake became more prominent in the party due to JVP’s tendency towards democratic policies. He became an MP for the first time in the 2000 election. He became the party president in 2014. In the 2019 elections, JVP got only three percent of the votes.