Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, MP (අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක, ; born 24 November 1968), also known by his initials AKD, is a Sri Lankan politician. He is a Member of Parliament from the Colombo District, the current party leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (from 2014) and the National People's Power (from 2019). A former presidential candidate in 2019, he has been named as the National People's Power presidential candidate for the 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election, campaigning on an anti-corruption platform.

Dissanayake has been involved with the JVP since his school days and was active in student politics in university before joining the JVP politburo in 1995. He has been a member of parliament since September 2000, having been either appointed from the national list or elected, Dissanayake served as the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation from 2004 to 2005 and Chief Opposition Whip from 2015 to 2018. He was named the leader of JVP at the 7th National Convention of the party, held on 2 February 2014.

Early life, education and student politics
Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Anura Kumara Dissanayake was born on 24 November 1968 in the village of Thambuthegama in the Anuradhapura District, North Central Province, Sri Lanka. His father was a labourer and his mother was a housewife, he had one sister. Dissanayake received his education at the Thambuthegama Gamini Maha Vidyalaya and the Thambuthegama Central College, becoming the first student from the college to gain university entrance. Having been involved in the JVP from his school days, Dissanayake joined the JVP in 1987, becoming active in student politics, engaged in full time political activities from 1987, with the onset of the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection. He entered the University of Peradeniya and left a few months later due to threats. He transferred to the University of Kelaniya a year later in 1992 and graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in physical science.

JVP Politburo
In 1995, he become the National Organizer of the Socialist Students Association and was appointed to the Central Working Committee of the JVP. He appointed to the Politburo of the JVP in 1998. The JVP having re-entered mainstream politics under Somawansa Amarasinghe, supported Chandrika Kumaratunga in the 1994 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, however soon became vocal critics of the Kumaranatunga administration.

Parliament and Cabinet minister
He entered parliament in 2000, following the 2000 Sri Lankan parliamentary election from the National list of the JVP and was reappointed following the 2001 Sri Lankan parliamentary election. In 2004, the JVP allied with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), contesting as a part of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the 2004 parliamentary elections and win 39 seats in the parliament. Dissanayake was elected to parliament from the Kurunegala District from the UPFA and was appointed by President Kumaranatunga as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation in the joint SLFP–JVP government in February 2004. He resigned his ministerial portfolio on 16 June 2005, with the other JVP Ministers, following JVP leader Amerasinghe's decision to quit the United People's Freedom Alliance in opposition to President Kumaranatunga government's controversial joint mechanism with the LTTE for tsunami relief co-ordination in the north and east provinces. He served as Chief Opposition Whip from September 2015 to December 2018.

JVP party leader
On 2 February 2014, during the 17th National Convention of the JVP, Dissanayake was named as the new leader of the JVP, succeeding Somawansa Amarasinghe.

2019 presidential election
On 18 August 2019, the National People's Power, a political organization led by the JVP, announced that Dissanayake would be its presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential elections. Dissanayake became the 3rd most successful candidate in the election, receiving 418,553 votes.

2024 presidential election
On 29 August 2023, the NPP announced that Dissanayake would run for president again in 2024.

Dissanayake has been highly critical of the Government of Sri Lanka and the IMF, claiming that the IMF only wants to bailout corrupt regimes.