Anura Kumara Dissanayake was born on November 24, 1968, in Thambuththegama, Sri Lanka, into a working-class family. His father was a labourer, and his mother a housewife. Mr Dissanayake was involved in the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party during his school years and was the first student from the college chosen for admission into the university.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s ruling alliance secured a landslide win in Sri Lanka’s November 14 general elections, shattering records of strong governments of the past and making history in the island’s ethnic minorities-dominated north, east, and hill country.