evidence: Who is Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sri Lanka’s new Marxist president? [...] Dissanayake is the leader of National People’s Power alliance, and of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, or People’s Liberation Front, a Marxist political party that waged two unsuccessful armed insurrections in 1970s and 1980s to capture power through socialist revolution. [...] Having realised that it was not possible to come to power through his party alone, Dissanayake formed the NPP in 2019, bringing together 21 groups including political parties, youth groups, women’s groups, trade unions and other civil society groups.