Palitha Kumara Thewarapperuma (, ; 3 May 1960 – 16 April 2024) was a Sri Lankan politician who served as 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

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 ...

between 2010 and 2020. He served as the Deputy Minister of Social Empowerment, Deputy Minister of Sustainable Development, Wildlife and Regional Development and Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs during the Presidency of

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 ...

Early life and education

Thewarapperuma was born on 3 May 1960 in Sri Lanka (then known as

Ceylon 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, ...

). He received his primary education at Ananda Sastralaya National School in

Matugama Mathugama (, ) is a semi urban town surrounded by mountains. It is an electorate of the Kalutara district, in Western Province, Sri Lanka. The town is located to the south of Colombo. Mathugama is part of the ''Pasdun Korale'' () (meaning: co ...

Political career

Thewarapperuma embarked on his political career with the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP ( literally: Lanka Equal Society Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist po ...

, serving on the staff of Anil Moonesinghe. Later, he moved to the

, initially engaging in local governance activities. His foray into the political arena commenced with his candidacy for the Matugama Divisional Council, ultimately culminating in his appointment as the council's chairman in 2002. Subsequently, he contested the provincial council elections for the Western Province, representing the

, where he secured electoral victory. He was first elected to Parliament in 2010, and was subsequently re-elected in 2015. As a part of the UNP-led Good Governance administration headed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

in 2015, Thewarapperuma assumed significant ministerial responsibilities. These included roles such as Deputy Minister of Sustainable Development, Wildlife, and Regional Development, as well as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development, and Cultural Affairs. In the wake of 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, Thewarapperuma and his cohorts faced temporary removal from their governmental positions under the brief the short-lived Sirisena-Rajapaksa-led government. However, subsequent no-confidence motions and judicial interventions resulted in their reinstatement. Following this episode, Thewarapperuma undertook new duties upon his swearing-in as Deputy Minister of Social Empowerment. Nonetheless, by 2019, he was compelled to resign once more, prompted by the transition to 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 following

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 ...

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 ...

as president. Despite his efforts to contest the 2020 Parliamentary elections, the UNP suffered unprecedented defeat, leading to his electoral loss. Thewarapperuma was popular amongst the local masses for his social service activities and philanthropy. He rose to fame among people of the entire island especially during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka The COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 () virus. The first case of th ...

for having provided food, dry rations and other necessities to the rural population of the Kalutara Electoral District.

Controversies and incidents

Thewarapperuma was suspended from parliament for a week in 2016 for a brawl. He was part of the brawl on 15 November 2018, and had a blunt knife in hand which he appeared to want to use but was held back by fellow UNP MPs. In July 2016, Theewarapperuma went on a hunger strike demanding authorities admit nine children into a public school. During the events, he attempted suicide by hanging himself. However, he was admitted to the hospital and underwent a bypass surgery. Following the incident, the students were admitted to grade one of the school. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, he, on several occasions, distributed food supplies to the people of the village of Atalugama, which was under lockdown due to COVID infections.

Personal life

Thewarapperuma was married and had two children, Sahan Thilanka and Roshan Thilakshana. His elder son Sahan died of a sudden illness in August 2015 at the age of 23. 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

On 16 April 2024, Thewarapperuma was engaged in gardening at his private residence in Matugama when he suffered an accidental electric shock. He was transported to Nagoda Hospital in Kalutara, where he died. He was 63 years old. He had already prepared his burial plot in Kalutara.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thewarapperuma, Palitha 1960 births 2024 deaths Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Deputy ministers of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians Sri Lankan Buddhists People from Kalutara District Accidental deaths in Sri Lanka Accidental deaths by electrocution