Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake, PC (known as Gamini Dissanayake; si, ලයනල් ගාමිණි දිසානායක, ta, காமினி திஸாநாயக்க; 20 March 1942 – 24 October 1994) was a prominent Sri Lankan politician, a powerful minister of the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

, and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. He was designated as the UNP candidate in the 1994 presidential election, but was then assassinated by the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

(LTTE).

Early life and education

He was born in

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

as the second son of a family of seven children, his father was Andrew Dissanayake who served as an

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Nationalised Services and Shipping in the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

government of

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

. His mother was Welegedara Samaratunga Kumarihamy from Kotmale. The wealthy Dissanayake family resided in both

as well as

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( si, නුවර එළිය ; ta, நுவரெலியா) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrativ ...

. Dissanayake had his schooling at the prestigious

Trinity College, Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

. He later completed an

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

in International Relations at the

Wolfson College, Cambridge Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The majority of students at the college are postgraduates. The college also admits "mature" undergraduates (aged 21 and above), with around ...

in 1992.

Legal career

In 1961, he entered

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and took his finals in 1966. He apprenticed under Neville Samarakoon, QC and

call to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call ...

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However ...

in July 1967. He thereafter started his legal practice in the unofficial bar in the Colombo District Court as a junior to B. J. Fernando, PC. Later he went on to take silks as a

President's Counsel President's Counsel (postnominal PC) is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka to be one of the "President's Counsel learned in the law". The term is also recognized as an honorific which replaced the practice of appoi ...

in 1988.

Political career

Parliament

Following is father's legacy, he sought nomination from the

for the 1970 general elections from the Nuwara Eliya electorate, but was refused. He instead contested from the

(UNP) and was elected as a member of parliament under

(UNP) candidature and was one of the 18 UNP members in the parliament at a time when his party has faced an humiliating defeat. However, he was unseated in an election petition and faced suspension of his civic rights for seven years. That year a modification of the law by Minister of Justice, Felix Dias Bandaranaike to benefit Nanda Ellawala, allowed for Dissanayake to retain his civic rights and contest the by-election regaining his seat in parliament in 1972.

Minister

He comfortably secured his Nuwaraeliya-Maskeliya multielectorate seat in the 1977 general elections and was appointed as the minister of Mahaweli Development. Dissanyake spearheaded the Mahaweli Development Project. This was a huge project which was expected to take 30 years to finish. But due to Dissanayake's skills he managed to finish the project within 6 years. The Mahaweli Development Project is the largest development project conducted in Sri Lanka after independence. The whole country was affected by the project which focused on irrigation, hydro power generation, agriculture, town & country development. Further it was criticised by the time as to introduce sinhala population into Tamil's motherland. Majority of the power generated for the local consumption is generated from these hydropower plants while an overwhelming majority of the rice cultivation in Sri Lanka is conducted in these Mahaweli areas. He was the chairperson of the

Sri Lanka Cricket Board Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national sports body. The board was renamed ...

in the early 1980s and helped his country to gain the Test Status in cricket. He played a pivotal role in signing the Indoo-Lanka Peace Accord in 1987. In 1989 he was re elected as an MP from Nuwaraeliya District securing the highest percentage of preferential votes obtained by any UNP MP. He was the Minister of Estate Development during Premadasa regime. He was not awarded a portfolio in 1990 cabinet reshuffle and remained as a back-seat MP in the parliament. Dissanayake was accused of abduction of Prof. Ralph Bultjens. Prof Rohan Goonarathne in an interview with Hasitha Kuruppu told that Dissanayake did that as Bultjens in his lectures accused Dissanayake for swindling of money. Later he was acquitted from the courts.

United National Democratic Front

He played a major role in the aborted impeachment motion against President Premadasa and as a result was expelled from UNP in 1991. In the same year Dissanayaka joined

Lalith Athulathmudali Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, PC (; 26 November 1936 – 23 April 1993), known as Lalith Athulathmudali, was a Sri Lankan statesman. He was a prominent member of the United National Party, who served as Minister of Trade and Sh ...

to form United National Democratic Front (DUNF) which was a rising political force of that era. Dissanayaka contested to Kandy District at 1993 provincial council elections and became a member of the Central Provincial Council. After the assassination of Athulathmudali, Dissanayake became the leader of DUNF.

Return to the UNP

Later he rejoined UNP and was appointed to the parliament as a national list MP and was offered a vital portfolio in the Wijethunga Government. In 1994 PA came to power defeating UNP when Dissanayaka was re elected as a member of parliament from Kandy District. In a contest held among UNP MPs to choose the opposition leader Dissanayaka recorded a comfortable victory over previous prime minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.

Assassination

When President D.B. Wijetunga indicated he would not run in the 1994 presidential election, Dissanayake was selected as the UNP candidate at the same time he was the Leader of the Opposition in parliament. This was cut short when he was assassinated by a

female suicide bomber Female suicide bombers are women who carry out a suicide attack, wherein the bomber kills herself while simultaneously killing targeted people. Suicide bombers are normally viewed as male political radicals but since the 1960s female suicide attac ...

of the

(LTTE) while he was addressing an election meeting at Thotalanga. Government of India deputed Salim Ali IPS of CBI and Professor T D Dogra of All India Institute of Medical Sciences to assist the investigations of Gamini Dissanayake's assassination. His wife Srima Dissanayake ran in his stead, but was defeated by People's Alliance candidate and Prime Minister

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

Family

Gamini Dissanayake married Srima Lenaduwa in 1968. They had two sons, who are active in politics, Navin and Mayantha. His eldest son

Navin Navin is a surname of various origins. In some cases, it is a Hebrew surname, whose Dutch derivative is Nawijn. In other cases, the surname is derived from the Gaelic surnames ''Mac Cnáimhín'' and ''Ó Cnáimhín''. Hanks; Coates; McClure (2016 ...

was the Cabinet Minister of State Management Reforms in President Mahinda Rajapakse's Government and Member of Parliament for Nuwara Eliya District; he was non-cabinet Minister of Investment Promotion too. Mayantha contested for the 2010 General Election for

Kandy District Kandy District ( si, මහනුවර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, ta, கண்டி மாவட்டம்) is a district of the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Its area is 1906.3 km². Administrative divisions Ethnic ...

as a UNP candidate.

References

External links

Gamini Dissanayake Upahara ''(One Hour Rare Video)''A distinguished person and a noble son of Sri Lanka A Charismatic and Caring Leader Reflections on 67th Birth Anniversary Gamini Dissanayake: Servant of LankaQUALITIES OF Gamini Dissanayake Gamini: The renaissance manGamini Dissanayake, a political colossusThe Miracle-Maker; The Robert Kennedy Of Sri Lanka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dissanayake, Gamini 1942 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College Alumni of Wolfson College, Cambridge Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy President's Counsels (Sri Lanka) Assassinated Sri Lankan politicians Leaders of the Opposition (Sri Lanka) Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka People killed during the Sri Lankan Civil War Politicians from Kandy Power ministers of Sri Lanka Provincial councillors of Sri Lanka Ceylonese advocates Sinhalese lawyers Sinhalese politicians Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lankan cricket administrators Suicide bombings in Sri Lanka Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1994 United National Party politicians