Sri Lanka’s change symbol

• Anura Kumara Dissanayake, popularly known as ‘AKD’, entered left politics as a student in the late 1980s due to his hostility towards the state and ruling class.
• Dissanayake’s firsthand experience of “state terror” strengthened his resolve to remain in the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a party of Marxist-Leninist origins.
• The JVP’s political profile has changed significantly since its first insurrection in 1971, which had an anti-imperialist and socialist character.
• The party took a more Sinhala-nationalist turn in the 1980s, opposing accommodation of Tamil political claims for self-rule and India’s involvement in the riots.
• Dissanayake secured a seat in 2000 and served as Minister of Agriculture in the government of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarunga between 2004 and 2005.
• In 2014, Dissanayake was named leader of the JVP, succeeding Somawansa Amarasinghe.
• In 2019, Dissanayake set up the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, with over two dozen small political groups, professionals, academics, and activists.
• The NPP marked the beginning of a third force outside Sri Lanka’s traditional political camps led by the centre-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the centre-right United National Party and their offshoots.
• Dissanayake ran for President in 2019, but received 3.16% of the votes cast.
• The NPP’s parliamentary presence reduced by half in the 2020 general election, humiliating the NPP and the JVP.
• The NPP courted businessmen, artists, professionals, and the middle classes who drew comfort from its new social and class breadth.
• The party sees what critics see as ideological backtracking, but sees it as political flexibility.
• The 2022 people’s uprising, the toppling of a powerful Executive President, and a call for “system change” were not expected to come.
• The NPP’s election campaign began early, with rallies standing out for their impeccable arrangements and huge crowds.