Do we like Anura Kumara Dissanayake?
Our score: 6 out of 10. A leader with a real anti-corruption record and no harmful words of his own, held back by walked-back LGBTQ+ pledges and a contested terror-law rewrite.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake took Sri Lanka's leftist National People's Power from the fringe to the top job. He won the 2024 presidential vote with 5,740,179 votes after second preferences were counted, and his alliance then won 159 seats in parliament. He did it on a pledge to go after corruption, and the old guard has felt it since.
The party behind him, the JVP, has a bloody chapter in the 1988-89 insurrection. In 2014 Dissanayake reportedly expressed regret in London over the killings of that period, and the Sunday Observer reported it as an apology for more than 6,000 deaths. He was a young man then, but it is baggage he carries as the party's face.
The anti-corruption push is the headline story of his term. Police arrested former president Ranil Wickremesinghe in August 2025 over a 2023 London trip; investigators allege state money was used for a private visit, and he has said no state funds were used. Two former senior ministers were jailed for up to 25 years, and the government impeached the police chief. Wickremesinghe's allies call it politics, so the cases are worth watching.
On race, he has been plain: in a January 2026 speech he said “we will not allow racism in any form”, covering North, South and East. The rights-law picture is messier. He promised to repeal and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act, but one columnist argues the draft replacement gives state agents more powers than the old law. Where you land depends on whether you read it as a genuine rewrite or the old thing in new clothes.
The freshest stoush is from May Day. At a rally he referred to a pending court case and told supporters, “Be prepared to applaud the verdict when it comes.” Thirty-five opposition MPs sought a debate on alleged interference with the judiciary, and the Bar Association voiced grave concern. The NPP says he was only giving an opinion, and the Sunday Times noted he had not personally clarified the remarks. Sitting presidents have immunity, so it stays a political fight.
On the planet, after Cyclone Ditwah he pushed for climate finance and climate-resilient infrastructure in a December 2025 interview, calling the storm catastrophic and acknowledging weak spots in disaster preparedness. His cost-of-living promises have been messier. A viral claim of a 22.5 per cent power-bill cut was rated misleading by Fact Crescendo, which found he had floated a possible one-third cut tied to long-term restructuring.