evidence: The 55-year-old Dissanayake heads the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, which includes his Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), or People's Liberation Front - a party that has traditionally backed strong state intervention and lower taxes, and campaigned for leftist economic policies. [...] The NPP and Dissanayake capitalised on this sentiment, as many in the country saw him as someone outside the old order. [...] Dissanayake, who was elected to the JVP’s central committee in 1997 and became its leader in 2008, has since apologised for the party’s violence. But his victory at the polls raises questions as to what role the JVP might play in Sri Lankan politics going forward.