Marxist-leaning Dissanayake promises change as his popularity soars

Anura Kumara Dissanayake may lack the political lineage of some of his rivals, but his leftist policies to help the poor and stirring speeches have made him a leading candidate in Sri Lanka’s presidential election today.
Although Dissanayake’s Janatha Vimukthi Peremuna (JVP) party has just three seats in parliament, the 55-year-old candidate has been boosted by his promises of tough anti-corruption measures and bigger welfare schemes.
An opinion poll published this month showed Dissanayake, popularly known as AKD, was leading in voting preferences at 36 percent, followed by main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and President Ranil Wickremesinghe at third.
Premadasa is the son of former president Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was assassinated in office. Wickremesinghe’s uncle J R Jayewardene was a former president and prime minister, and Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of two-time president Mahinda Rajapaksa, has also thrown his hat into the ring.
“There are people who think their family power will win this election but on September 21, that family power, financial power, media power and state power will be defeated by people’s power,” Dissanayake said on Wednesday during his final rally. Dissanayake is running as candidate for the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, which includes his Marxist-leaning JVP party that has traditionally backed stronger state intervention and more closed market economic policies.
He has drawn big crowds at rallies, calling on Sri Lankans to leave behind the suffering of economic crisis that forced president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country in 2022.
Dissanayake’s JVP led two failed insurrections – in 1971 and 1988 – against elected governments that led to deaths of thousands. The party has since embraced mainstream politics and Dissanayake, who was not a leader at the time, has not commented on the insurrections in recent years.