Akalanka Buddhika Uditha Dedduwa Pathirana (; born 17 March 1974) was a deputy minister at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and a member of the 7th

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் '' ...

represented the

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

(UNP), for

Matara District Matara ( ''Mātara distrikkaya''; ''Māttaṛai māvaṭṭam'') is a district in Southern Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a Di ...

. He was elected to the Parliament at the General Election held on 8 April 2010 winning the second highest percentage of votes from the

which is the major opposition in the country.

Education

Pathirana received his primary and secondary education from

Rahula College Rahula College () is a boys' school in Sri Lanka, located in Matara district. Though it was originally a private Buddhist school, now it is run by the Government of Sri Lanka as a National School. Rahula College has two sections - the Primary s ...

, Matara (1980–1993). He was a senior school prefect, captain of the debating team and was awarded the president scout medal. He studied medicine at the

University of Kelaniya The University of Kelaniya (UoK; , ) is a public university in Sri Lanka. Just outside the municipal limits of Colombo, in the city of Kelaniya, the university has two major institutions and seven faculties. History The University of Kelaniy ...

(1997-2002).

Professional career

Pathirana joined the Telshan Network ( TNL TV) in 1995 as an assistant news co-ordinator and worked there till 1998 as a news co-ordinator, the deputy news editor and a political programme presenter. From 1998 to 2004, he served at MTV Channel ( Sirasa TV) as a political programme presenter and an executive producer.

Political career

After receiving 44,165 preferential votes at the Provincial Council Elections in 2004, Pathirana became a member of the Southern Provincial Council. He also became the youngest leader of the opposition in Provincial Councils in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

when he was appointed as the leader of the opposition in Southern Provincial Council in 2009, with 57,802 votes. He entered into the 7th

as a member by receiving 62,499 preferential votes from Matara District at the General Election in 2010. Pathirana is a member of 14 Consultative Committees inclusive of Ministries of Economic Development, Ports & Aviation, Fisheries & Aquatic Resources, State Defense, etc. He was awarded as the Most Outstanding Young Politician in

in 2006. He has been working as the Media Secretary of the UNP for Southern Province since 2004 and the Chief Organiser of the UNP in Akuressa Electorate since 2005.

International accolades

Pathirana was elected as a member of the executive committee and the chief executive officer for South Asia in Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia (YLDA) in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Other Positions

Pathirana was the first chairman of the Mutuhara Children's Society (1987–1990). He was the first district secretary for youth Red Cross Society (1990–1992). He was the youngest principal of Sunday schools in

from 1991 to 1998. He has been the Chief Basnayaka Nilame for Matara Binara Maha Perahera since 2007. He was national chairman of Liberal Youth Guilds (LYG) in

(2007–2009). Pathirana is the founder, chairman and the managing director of the Samadhi Community Development Foundation, since 2000.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pathirana, Buddhika Alumni of Rahula College Living people 1974 births Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Samagi Jana Balawegaya politicians