evidence: Dissanayake, 55, defeated the incumbent, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was installed as president in 2022 after Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to resign and flee the country amid a popular uprising. The win by Dissanayake, the leader of the hardcore leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which is a member of the broader National People Power (NPP) coalition, was seen by many to be a watershed moment for his party. It is the first time it has sat in the presidential office. [...] Wickremesinghe, a six-time former prime minister, was appointed in his place and tasked with getting the country’s economy back on track. He was credited with negotiating a $3bn loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but as poverty rose to 25% over the past two years, he became deeply unpopular for austerity policies that were seen to hit the poorest.