Ratnasiri Wickremanayake (, ; 5 May 1933 – 27 December 2016) was 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 who served as

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka The prime minister of Sri Lanka, officially the prime minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's exec ...

from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2010, and also served as the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

from 2001 to 2002. He was a Member of Parliament representing the Horana electorate and later the Kalutara District. Wickremanayake held many ministerial positions in the Sri Lankan government, beginning in 1970.

Early life

Wickremanayake was educated in Millewa Primary School, Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya, Hartley College, Point Pedro and Ananda College,

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 ...

Alternative results
and later as a student joined

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

to become a Barrister of Law, but ultimately chose to enter politics rather than appear for the exam. During his time in United Kingdom he was elected president of the Ceylon Students' Association in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1955.

Early political career

Wickremanayake entered politics in 1960. He was elected to the legislature in 1960, from Horana for 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 ...

(then a part of the People's United Front alliance). Wickremanayake joined the SLFP in 1962. He was re-elected twice (in 1965 and 1970) to the legislature for Horana from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Wickremanayake received his first ministerial appointment in 1970, when he was appointed Deputy Minister for Justice in the United Front government under Prime Minister

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (; ; ; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government, world's first fe ...

. In 1975, Wickremanayake was appointed Minister of Plantation Industries and the next year was also

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. Wickremanayake lost his Parliamentary seat in the landslide defeat of the SLFP in the general elections of 1977. He became General Secretary of the SLFP in 1978. In the general elections of 1994, Wickremanayake won the Kalutara District seat and then became Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs and Plantation Industries in the government of President

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. ...

Prime Minister and Opposition leadership

Wickremanayake first served as Prime Minister from August 2000 to December 2001, succeeding

, who resigned from the position at the age of 84. He was sworn into office on 13 October 2000. He escaped an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber during the 2001 election. He lost his premiership role in December 2001 when his party lost to the opposition party,

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 ...

, by taking 109 of the 225 Parliament seats. Wickremanayake was the senior vice-president of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). After the SLFP won the 2004 parliamentary elections, Wickremanayake was appointed Minister of

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 ...

Affairs, Public Security, and Law and Order, and Deputy Minister for Defence. The source claims that Wickremanayake served his premiership from November 1999 to February 2001. He was sworn in for a second time as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President

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 ...

on 21 November 2005. During Presidency of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, he held the Public Administration, Home Affairs and Plantation Industries portfolios. His son Vidura Wickremanayake is also a Member of Parliament. During his first tenure as Prime Minister, he refused to consider talks with the LTTE separatist group, and renounced terrorism. He called for Sri Lanka's family planning policies to be modified, to encourage people to have more children. Wickremanayake was considered a

hardline In politics, hardline or hard-line is an adjective describing a stance on an issue that is inflexible and not subject to compromise. A hardliner is a person holding such views. The stance is usually far from the centrist view. People, policies, ...

opponent of Tamil separatists. He also opposed the present ceasefire arrangements at the time they were put in place. During his tenure as the

in 2002, Wickremanayake "openly supported unconditional dialogue with the LTTE." On 5 February 2010, he told the Parliament that his government offered the LTTE group amnesty in exchange for surrendering themselves, refused ceasefire appeals from international bodies, and "vowed to crush those who fight on."

Death

On 21 December 2016, Wickremanayake was admitted to a private hospital in

. He died on 27 December 2016 at the age of 83 due to an unspecified illness. He was serving as the Senior Advisor to President

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 ...

at the time of his death.

References

External links