Ramesh Pathirana is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n politician, a member of the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

and is serving as the current Minister of Plantation Industries and Minister of Industries. He belongs to the

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna The Sri Lanka People's Front ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ, translit=Śrī Laṃkā Podujana Peramuna; ta, இலங்கை பொதுஜன முன்னணி, translit=Ilaṅkai Potujaṉa Mu� ...

. He was educated at

Richmond College, Galle Richmond College ( si, රිච්මන්ඩ් විද්‍යාලය) is a primary and secondary school in Galle, Sri Lanka which was established as Galle High School in 1876. The founder of school was the Wesleyan Missionary George B ...

and

University of Peradeniya The University of Peradeniya ( si, පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, பேராதனைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a Public research university, public university in Sri Lanka ...

. He is a physician by profession and is the son of former Education and Higher Education minister

Richard Pathirana Richard Pathirana (24 February 1938 - 3 July 2008) was a Sri Lankan politician and educationist. He served as the minister for Education and Higher Education from 1994 to 2000 and as the minister for State Administration, Home Affairs and Admi ...

Political career

He was appointed as Minister of Plantation Industries and Export Agriculture on 22 November 2019. He was appointed as Minister of Plantation on 12th August 2020 by the SLPP government.

Political Interference in the Police

After the 20th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution reduced the independence of the police Ramesh Pathirana was accused by other SLPP MPs of assuming the power of the police chief. SLPP legislator Chandima Weerakkody claimed that all police transfers were done according to letters sent by Pathirana where many OICs were appointed according to political ties rather than merit where many inexperienced officers were promoted over senior experienced officers. Thus the police was incapable of handling the mass violence that occurred when loyalists of Mahinda Rajapaksa including those brought by Pathirana attacked peaceful protestors on 9 May 2022. The resulting retaliatory riots destroyed many houses of Rajapaksa loyalists including that of Pathirana as the politicised police was incapable was handling the situation.

Elections

Elected to parliament first in 2010. In the 2020 general elections held on 5th August 2020 he won the highest preferential votes of 205,814 in the

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Souther ...

district.

Notes

References

Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians United People's Freedom Alliance politicians 1969 births People from Galle Alumni of Richmond College, Galle Living people Sinhalese politicians {{SouthernLK-politician-stub