Andrew Mueller explores the reasons why Sri Lankans ditched their traditional leaders and plumped for Anura Kumara Dissanayake instead. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sri Lankan politics have generally been a family affair.
Before this past weekend's presidential election, Sri Lanka's previous two presidents, Ranil Vikrambasinghe and Gotabaya Rajapaka, had both been scions of well established political dynasties.
The Rajapakas in particular had come to believe themselves something akin to Sri Lankan royalty.
Gotabaya's brothers, Mahinda, Shamal and Basil all served variously as President, Prime Minister, speaker of the House and Minister of Finance, among other appointments.
A Rajapaksa did stand in this election, Namal, son of Mahinda, but by way of demonstrating that the brand has become somewhat tarnished, won just 2.57% of the vote.
That is pretty much everyone called Rajapaka or related to a Rajapaka and few besides.
We will return presently to the Rajapakas unwitting and certainly unwilling enablers of an extraordinary shift in their nation's politics.
In Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara Desa Nai AKA has been named as the winner of the presidential election.
Sri Lanka's new president, Anura Kumara Dasanayaki, is both an exception and a reaction to the closed shop tradition.
He ran as an outsider in a country which has tended to elect insiders, but beat incumbent President Ranil Vikram Basinga into third place and Sajith Pramadasa, the son of another former president.
You see the pattern emerging into second.
Three questions therefore present.
Who is Anura Kumura Desenoyake?
Why did his fellow citizens elect him?
And what will he do with Sri Lanka's presidency now that he has it?
The first of these is easiest to answer.
Dessaniake, usually and mercifully known as AKD, was born 55 years ago in a village in North Central Province to a family of no great means.
He is a physicist by education but a politician by vocation, involved since his student days with the party he now leads, the Janata Vimukti Paramuna, or jvp.
The name translates broadly as People's Liberation Front and its logo was and is a scarlet hammer and sickle.
At which point observant listeners will have begun to form some idea of the JVP's general outlook.