Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), won 42.3 per cent of the vote in the Sep 21 election.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna , won 42.3 per cent of the vote in the Sep 21 election.
He became involved in leftist politics as a student, around the time when the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed. The agreement was part of the Sri Lankan government's plan to end the civil war by devolving political power to the minority Tamils under a deal brokered by neighbouring India which would send peacekeeping forces.
A large number of people disappeared, and unofficial estimates place the death toll from the JVP armed struggle at about 60,000. Some are still unaccounted for.He assumed leadership of the party in 2014, according to his CV, and shortly afterwards made a public declaration it would"never again" take up arms.
Dissanayake ran as a candidate for the National People's Power alliance, which includes his Marxist-leaning JVP. "There is a smear campaign against us, saying we will nationalise everything, even cows," Dissanayake said at a campaign rally. On Sunday JVP politburo member Bimal Ratnayake said Dissanayake would not allow the island to be caught up in geopolitical rivalry between the two.Saturday's election was the first since mass protests over the economy ousted former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.
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