Petikirige Dayaratna (born October 1, 1936) is a

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, ...

n politician and a 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 '' ...

. He was elected to Ampara electorate in 1977 as a Member of Parliament from 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 ...

Biography

Petikirige Dayaratna was born on October 1, 1936. His parents were Petikirige Wimalasena and Dehipitiyage Leelawathie Gunawardene of Wethera village, Polgasowita. Born in his maternal ancestral home in the hamlet of Godigamuwa in

Kalutara District Kalutara District (; ''Kaḷuttuṟai Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary (previo ...

, he received his basic education in the school of his home town, Wethara, and in 1947 entered

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 ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, to complete his secondary education. In 1961, he gained admission to Brighton Technical College,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where he graduated as an electrical engineer in 1965 and returned home on April 23, 1965. On May 17, 1965, he joined state service as an Assistant Electrical Engineer of Gal Oya Development Board stationed at

Ampara Ampara (, ) is the main town of Ampara District, governed by an Urban Council. It is located in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, about east of Colombo and approximately south of Batticaloa. History This was a hunters' resting place during Br ...

. In 1965 he was appointed the electrical engineer of the Department of Government Electrical Undertakings, which, during his tenure of office, became the

Ceylon Electricity Board The Ceylon Electricity Board - CEB (; ), was the largest electricity company in Sri Lanka. With a market share of nearly 100%, it controlled all major functions of electricity generation, transmission, distribution and retailing in Sri Lanka. I ...

(CEB). At the 1970 General Election, Ampara was the citadel of leftist forces, and Dayaratna, who resigned from government service and contested the Ampara seat, lost to his rival, Somaratne Senarath, a staunch leftist from

. While serving as the electrical engineer of CEB in August 1967, Dayaratna was elected as the President of the Mandala Mahaviharaya Buddhist Society of Ampara Town and under the guidance of Ven. Dodamduwe Dhammaratana Nayaka Thera, completed the construction work of the Cetiya within two years. Dayaratna married Deepthika Dayaratna on June 2, 1971. The couple have three children. With the blessings of then UNP Leader

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 ...

, he contested the Ampara seat at the 1977 General Election and won with a majority of 8,000 votes, recording the first-ever victory for the UNP in Ampara electorate. In October 1978 he became the District Minister for Ampara, in 1981 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Power and Energy and became Minister in 1987. In February 1989 he was given the portfolio of Lands, Irrigation and Mahaweli Development and in April 1991 he was made the Minister of Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Social Welfare. Although the UNP lost power at the General Election in 1994, Dayaratna was re-elected as a UNP member for

Ampara District Ampara District (; ) is one of the 25 Districts of Sri Lanka, districts of Sri Lanka, the second-level administrative divisions of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a Government Agent (Sri Lanka), Distric ...

. He was re-elected at the subsequent elections held in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2010. He was the Minister of Health, Nutrition and Welfare under the UNF Government. In 2007 he joined the UPFA with 17 others to support

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

, but rejoined the UNP in 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dayaratna, P. 1936 births Living people Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka 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 Cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians United People's Freedom Alliance politicians Sinhalese people Sri Lankan engineers District ministers of Sri Lanka Social affairs ministers of Sri Lanka

Biography

See also

References

External links