By

D.B.S. Jeyaraj

The first part of this article published last week delved into the election campaign conducted by Anura Kumara Dissanayake when he contested the September 2024 presidential elections. The second part was to scrutinise , President Dissanayake’s post-election performance in fulfilling those promises during the past year. However this week’s article will focus -with the aid of earlier writings – on AKD’s rapid rise in politics and the winning strategies adopted by him. President Dissanayake’s post-election performance will be analysed in a future article.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) suffered two major splits in 2008 and 2012. In 2008 many of the Sinhala ultra-nationalists within the JVP led by Wimal Weerawansa broke away and formed the National Freedom Front(NFF). In 2012 most of the revolutionary socialists in the JVP under Kumar Gunaratnam’s leadership left the JVP and formed the Frontline Socialist Party(FSP). After these splits what was mainly left behind was a “residual middle” somewhat in between Sinhala nationalism and revolutionary socialism.

The JVP began losing its vigour and vitality in the post-war years and began turning into a caricature of its former self. It was becoming increasingly clear that the JVP required a new sense of direction under a fresh leader if it were to survive as a political force.

The veteran JVP leader Somawansa Amersinghe realised that he needed to step down and began dropping hints that he would retire soon. The question was who would succeed him. There were many potential successors. K.D. Lalkantha, Tilvin Silva, Vijitha Herath, Sunil Handunneththi, Bimal Rathnayake and Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Among these stalwarts the General Secretary Tilvin Silva was tipped to be the new leader.

JVP’s Fifth Leader

The JVP’s 17th national convention was held on 2 February 2014. Somawansa stepped down as leader and proposed that Anura Kumara Dissanayake replace him. Somawansa had appreciated the potential in Anura years ago and had groomed him as his successor. It was approved unanimously, Anura Kumara Dissanayake became the JVP’s fifth leader eleven years ago.

The August 2015 election was the first Parliamentary election faced by the JVP after Anura donned the mantle of leadership. The JVP contested in all electoral districts and polled 543,944 (4.87) votes. This entitled the JVP to six MPs, four elected and two on the national list. Anura himself contested from the Colombo district and won with 65,966 preference votes.

The JVP remained in the Opposition along with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). TNA leader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan became leader of the Opposition while JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake became the chief whip of the Opposition.

When local authority polls were held in February 2018, the JVP contested. The party polled 693,875 (6.27%) votes with 431 members being elected to various local bodies. The JVP failed to capture power in a single local authority.

The relatively poor performances of the JVP in the 2015 Parliamentary elections and the 2018 local authority polls led to much introspection within the party. The JVP’s public meetings and mass rallies were well attended. The crowds appeared to be supportive. Yet at voting time, the JVP finished a poor third. It was as if the JVP was doomed to be a fringe party eternally with the consolation prize of being described as the third force in Sri Lankan politics by the media.

After protracted consultations with external elements and prolonged internal discussions the JVP resolved to form a broad alliance or front. AKD played a big role in promoting this concept.The JVP would remain the pivotal power in that alliance and maintain its position of pre-eminence. Overtly the JVP would be the first among equals (Primus Inter Pares) in the new set up. Covertly the JVP would be in control. In a sense it would be old wine in a new bottle.

Jathika Jana Balawegaya

And so the Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) or National People’s Power (NPP) was born. On 13 July 2019, hundreds of political activists converged at the BMICH in Colombo. The National People’s Power (NPP) known in Tamil as the Thesiya Makkal Sakthi (TMS) was formally launched following a motion proposed by Anura Dissanayake and seconded by Tilvin Silva.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected as leader of the NPP also. The NPP General Secretary was Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe. Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and Lal Wijenayake were the Deputy Secretaries. The Treasurer was Eranga Gunasekara.

The JVP led NPP had its electoral baptism in the Presidential election of November 2019. Anura Kumara Dissanayake contested the Presidential elections for the first time. The NPP symbol was the compass. Anura came third polling only 418,563 (3.15%) votes.

Ten months later came the 2020 Parliamentary elections. The NPP led by AK Dissanayake contested in all the electoral districts. Again it was a big blow for the JVP led NPP. The compass was able to garner only 445,958 (3.84%) votes. The NPP got only three seats with two elected MPs and one on the national list. AK Dissanayake won in Colombo with 49,814 preferences.

The JVP experiment of contesting as the NPP had not yielded the expected results. An influential group of stalwarts within the JVP felt the NPP stratagem was a failure. They wanted the JVP to revert to its former status and not be tied down to the NPP.

Anura however disagreed strongly. He pointed out that the NPP was only a year old and some more time was necessary to pass judgement on whether the strategic change was a success or failure. He urged that they continue for some more time with the NPP. Anura also said that they had to promote the NPP concept in a bigger way in the future. AKD won the day. The JVP resolved to continue as the NPP.

Rural Regions

A major hurdle confronting the JVP/NPP was the historic difficulty faced in the past to establish itself strongly in the rural regions of Sri Lanka. The JVP was strong in the urban and semi-urban areas. The JVP’s performance in previous elections showed that its support base was comparatively weak in the rural areas especially the agricultural heartlands.

Furthermore the JVP has had in the past a higher percentage of membership from non-Govigama castes as opposed to the Govigama caste. The JVP does have a Govi membership (both Anura Dissanayake and Vijitha Herath have Mudiyansalage as their “Ge” names) but it had been proportionately less than those from other non-Govi castes.

The problem faced by the JVP in strengthening the party in the agricultural areas was solved in an unexpected way. In a bizarre turn of events former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa helped the JVP through his fertilizer fiasco. Gotabaya acting on the advice of his advisers from the “Viyathmaga” and “Eliya” banned the import of fertilizer thereby delivering a death blow to farmers and paddy cultivators. People in the rural areas especially those in the agricultural sector faced an unprecedented crisis. Many were poverty stricken.

The JVP saw an opening and exploited the situation adroitly. The JVP expanded its rural front and organised a series of protest demonstrations in the agricultural areas. The people of these areas whose traditional occupation was agriculture had been SLFP supporters earlier and later supporters of the SLPP. They were essentially a vote bank of the Rajapaksas. Now they were angry with the Rajapaksas for obvious reasons.

The JVP utilised this anger to its advantage by mobilising support in the agricultural areas.The political past became an insignificant fading memory when faced with the overwhelming existential reality of the present. Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Anura Kumara Dissanayake conquered rural Sri Lanka thanks to Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa. So much so that young monks of the Siam Nikaya engaged in propaganda for AKD at the presidential election.

Winds of Protest

If AKD reaped a political harvest by utilising the woes of fertilizer deprived farmers, he received another political windfall from the winds of protest blowing over Galle Face Green. The country underwent the unprecedented experience of the “Aragalaya” (struggle).

The ‘Aragalaya’ accomplished many things in addition to expediting the ouster of the Rajapaksas. It demonstrated the success of people’s power in general and youth power in particular. It enhanced aversion towards nepotism and corruption. It also nurtured and nourished a fresh political culture clamouring for a change in the system or in the existing order of things.”

Yearning for Change

AKD made an incisive analysis of the changed situation with the aid of pro-JVP academics, analysts and opinion makers. He recognised that the people in general and youths in particular were yearning for a change. Some called it a system change. None seemed sure or clear about what this change was likely to be. The JVP/NPP led by AKD defined this change as a change of those in power from the presidency to Parliament.

Thereafter the JVP led NPP began a push -pull approach. On the one hand it widely encouraged the yearning for change while on the other that yearning was channeled into a demand for political change. The JVP/NPP used the compass symbol as its symbol for change. Countless video clips promoting the “Malimawa” and “Thisaikaatti” as harbingers of change were propagated in Sinhala and Tamil over social media and you tubes.

Haves vs Have-nots.

In the process two passions came to the fore. One was anger and hatred against the privileged classes and those in power. The other was sympathy and empathy for the under-privileged and powerless people. The presidential election was going to be an undeclared war between the haves and have- nots. The goal was a victory for the proverbial common man. AKD was projected as both a champion for change as well as an agent of change.

AK Dissanayake fitted the bill perfectly. He had rugged good looks, an amiable disposition and a flair for effective oratory. He had a knack for establishing instant rapport with his varied audiences be it the Udarata,Rajarata, Ruhuna, Vadakku or Kizhakku.

He spoke simply yet elegantly in a conversational style. He would pose questions and then proceed to answer them.
There was also feeling and empathy when he spoke about the particular problems faced by segments of the people and their sufferings as well as their aspirations. His was a tone of sincerity coupled with the ring of authenticity. Audiences were both touched and impressed.

Three Factors

No wonder then that Anura Kumara Dissanayake romped home the winner in the presidential stakes. It was essentially due to three main factors namely a) the mobilisation of huge crowds in public meetings and rallies, b) a widespread house to house campaign by volunteers targeting households systematically and c) an intensive, sustained promotional campaign over social media and you tubes.

This then was how Anura Kumara Dissanayake known as AKD became the ninth executive president of Sri Lanka. As is well known, AKD polled 5,634,915 (42.31%) votes on the first count and 5,740,179 (55.89%) on the second count. AKD has been in the seat of power for a year now. Has he begun ushering in the change he pledged? AKD’s progress so far would be assessed in the third and final part of this article.

D.B.S.Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com

This article appears in the “DBS Jeyaraj Column” of the “Daily Mirror”dated 29 September 2025.It can be accessed here –

https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/A-Champion-for-Change-Projection-of-AKD-as-an-agent-of-Change/172-320798

**********************************************************************