Two years ago, tens of thousands of Sri Lankans rose up against their president and forced him to flee the country.

By Libby George, Karin Strohecker and Uditha Jayasinghe LONDON (Reuters) -Sri Lanka reached a draft deal with creditors to restructure $12.5 billion of international bonds, it said on Thursday, in a major boost to the island nation's fragile recovery just two days before its presidential election.

The upcoming Sri Lankan presidential elections feature many old and popular names. However, one among them stands out — Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party.