evidence: With the ban on JVP being lifted in 1994 by the government of Sri Lanka, Dissanayake entered full-time politics as the national organiser of the Socialist Students Association and a member of the JVP Central Working Committee. He was then appointed to the JVP politburo in 1998 and entered parliament from the national list in 2000. He was elected to parliament in 2004 and served as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation from 2004 to 2005. In 2014, he became the leader of the JVP and served as Chief Opposition Whip from 2015 to 2018. In 2019, he became the founding leader of the National People's Power (NPP).[1] He was elected as President of Sri Lanka on 22 September 2024, becoming the first president to be elected from a third party.[2] [...] References [edit]- ^ "Anura Kumara Dissanayake is new JVP leader". Daily Mirror. 2 February 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024. [...] - ^ "NPPM Declares JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake As Its 2019 Presidential Candidate". Colombo Telegraph. 18 August 2019. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2019.