Mallawa Arachchige Gamini Jayawickrama Perera (, ; 29 January 1941 – 17 February 2024) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was a

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 ...

member of the

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

for the Kurunegala District between 1994 and 2020, and had previously represented Katugampola in the

National State Assembly The National State Assembly (NSA) was the legislative body of Sri Lanka established in May 1972 under the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972, First Republican Constitution. The assembly was introduced by Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Si ...

from 1977 to 1989. Perera served many cabinet positions in various Sri Lankan governments, including being the Minister of Buddha Sasana, Minister of Wayamba Development, Minister of Sustainable Development and Wildlife, Minister of Food Security and the Minister of Irrigation and Water Management. Perera also briefly left national politics to become the Chief Minister of the North Western Province and serve in the North Western Provincial Council. Perera helped represent Sri Lanka's interests internationally as the chairman of

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, a position he was elected to in April 2016. Furthermore, he held the position of chairman of the

during a significant period of his career.

Early life

Perera was born on 29 January 1941 in

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

in the North Western Province. He came from a large family, with one of his brothers being Lincoln Perera, who later served as the Secretary of the Ministry of Plantation Industries. He received his primary and secondary education at Nalanda College in Colombo. An ardent

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

enthusiast, Perera actively participated in the sport during his school years. He was a member of the college's first XI team and eventually became its

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He led the team in the ''Battle of the Maroons''

big match In Sri Lankan cricket, a Big Match is an annual school cricket match typically played between two rival schools in Sri Lanka. These schools often have a long history of competition, some rivalries lasting over a century. Big matches have bec ...

against

Ananda College Ananda College () is a Prestigious Buddhist school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is often known as "The Pinnacle of buddhist education " It is the largest national Buddhist school for boys in Sri Lanka, with a student population exceeding 8000 ac ...

in 1960, which ended in a draw.

Political career

Perera's political career began in 1968 when as a member of the

he began to participate in

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

politics. He quickly rose through the ranks of the party, attracting the attention of the party leadership, which enlisted him into national politics in 1973. In the 1977 elections, which saw a resounding victory for the UNP, he secured his initial parliamentary seat representing the Katugampola constituency. Subsequently in 1982, then President

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...

appointed Perera to the position of District Minister of Kurunegala in his cabinet. With the advent of the

Indo-Sri Lanka Accord The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene. The accord was expected to resolve the Sri Lankan civil war, Sri Lankan Civ ...

and the establishment of Provincial Councils in Sri Lanka, Perera briefly left national politics to pursue a role in regional governance. In 1988, he contested and triumphed in the provincial council elections for the North Western Province, and as a result, he became the inaugural Chief Minister of the North Western Province. Returning to national politics in the

1994 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1994. Africa * 1994 Botswana general election * 1994 Guinea-Bissau general election * 1994 Malawian general election * 1994 Mozambican general election * 1994 Namibian general election * 1994 South Afr ...

, Perera emerged victorious from the Kurunegala District. Throughout much of his tenure in parliament, he found himself situated on the opposition benches, apart from a brief interlude when he served as Minister of Irrigation and Water Management under the

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, President of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. ...

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

in 2001. These dynamics of his political involvement experienced a shift with the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province, S ...

in 2015 and the establishment of a UNP-led administration. During this period, Perera assumed various ministerial portfolios, including the Minister of Food Security, the Minister of Sustainable Development and Wildlife, and the Minister of Buddha Sasana. Following a

constitutional crisis In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the constitution, political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variat ...

in 2018, Perera and his colleagues in the sitting administration faced temporary dismissal from their governmental posts under the short-lived Sirisena-Rajapaksa-led government. However, subsequent no confidence motions and Supreme Court rulings led to their reinstatement. Perera resumed his duties as Minister of Buddha Sasana and was additionally entrusted with the portfolio of Minister of Wayamba Development. However, following the

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, (; ; born 20 June 1949) was a Sri Lankan politician and military officer who served as the eighth President of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his Resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resignation on 14 July 202 ...

in 2019 and the formation of a

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna The Sri Lanka People's Front (; ), commonly known by its Sinhalese name Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is a political party in Sri Lanka. It was the ruling party in Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2022 and was the largest party in Parliament of Sr ...

(SLPP)-led government, he opted to depart from governmental responsibilities and chose not to seek re-election in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. In 2021, he deviated from the party line by openly criticizing UNP leader

Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 a ...

. Perera alleged that Wickremesinghe was attempting to broker a deal with the then-incumbent SLPP-led government. Furthermore, he lamented the significant losses suffered by the UNP in the 2020 parliamentary elections.

Personal life

Perera married Rohini Perera and they had two children, with one of his children being a former Provincial Council member, Asanga Jayawickrama Perera. He was a devout

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Death

Perera died on 17 February 2024, at the age of 83 in his residence situated in Kurunegala. He had been seriously ill for some time at the time of his death. Perera's funeral took place on 20 February 2024, at the Pannala Stadium grounds in Pannala, Kurunegala District.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Gamini Jayawickrama 1941 births 2024 deaths Sri Lankan Buddhists Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Chief ministers of North Western Province, Sri Lanka Cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan planters District ministers of Sri Lanka 20th-century farmers 20th-century landowners