Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the National People’s Power (NPP), has won the 2024 Presidential Election with 5.7 million votes. However, since he did not get more than 50% of the total votes, second and third preference votes from other candidates were counted to determine the winner. Dissanayake will be sworn in as Sri Lanka’s 9th Executive President this morning (23) at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, in front of Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.
The election was highly competitive, especially between Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa, the candidate from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), who received 4,530,902 votes. Dissanayake won in 15 out of 22 districts, while Premadasa secured wins in Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Digamadulla, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vanni, and Jaffna districts.
Dissanayake won in the districts of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Gampaha, Kegalle, Kandy, Matale, Colombo, Ratnapura, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, and Moneragala.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Background
Born on November 24, 1968, in Dewahuwa, Matale, Dissanayake is the second child of Dissanayake Mudyanselage Ranbanda, a surveyor, and Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Seelawathi. He attended Tambuttegama Primary School and later completed his A-levels at Tambuttegama Central College. In 1992, he joined the University of Kelaniya, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1995. During his university years, Dissanayake became active in politics, serving as president of the University Buddhist Association and joining the Socialist Students’ Union in 1987.
He entered mainstream politics through the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in the 1990s, where he became a key leader of the Socialist Students’ Union (SYU). His activism earned him the nickname ‘Aravinda.’ In 1997, he was appointed as the National Organizer of the SYU and joined the JVP Central Committee.
Dissanayake first entered Parliament in 2000 and served as Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Irrigation, and Livestock in 2004. However, he and other JVP members left the government over disagreements on handling post-tsunami management. In 2014, he became the leader of the JVP, and in 2019, he helped form the National People’s Power (NPP), a movement that brought together various political groups and civil organizations.
Rise of the NPP
In 2022, during a time of economic crisis and widespread protests known as ‘Aragalaya,’ the NPP gained strong public support. The protest movement led to the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Dissanayake positioned himself as a key figure in pushing for change. As the NPP’s candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election, Dissanayake promised to address the needs of people affected by the economic crisis and introduce a new political culture for Sri Lanka.
Now, as the newly elected President, Dissanayake aims to lead the country toward recovery and reform.
This report is based on the news posted by Ceylon Today.