Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Sumanaweera Banda Dissanayake, MP (born 18 September 1951) (known as ''S. B. Dissanayake'') 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. He is the former Cabinet Minister of

Higher Education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

in President

Mahinda Rajapakse Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

's Government.He was former general secretary of Sri Lanka Freedom Party and former national organiser of the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

Dissanayake lost his cabinet position after Rajapaksha was defeated at the 2015 presidential election in Sri Lanka. He was appointed as Minister of Industry by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.

Political career

In the 1977 General Elections Dissanayake contested the Hanguranketha Electorate from the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

but was defeated. Dissanayaka contested for the parliamentary election in 1994 under the People's Alliance from the Nuwara Eliya district and was elected to parliament with 38372 votes. He served as the Cabinet Minister of Samurdhi affairs, Youth Affairs and Sports under President

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

. In 2001, Dissanayaka and other eight ministers from the PA government crossed over to the

which was a crucial factor in the downfall of the incumbent PA government.In 2002 he was assigned as the Cabinet Minister of Samurdhi and Agriculture in the UNP government under prime minister

Ranil Wickramasinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

in addition to being elevated to National Organiser of the party. In December 2009, Dissanayaka crossed over again, to the SLFP.Dissanayake lost his cabinet position after Rajapaksha was defeated at the 2015 presidential election in Sri Lanka. His controversial statement about former president Chandrika Kumaratunge was criticized by many in the run up to the polls in 2015. Dissanayake joined the National government in 2015 led by the

as the Minister of Rural Economic Affairs. He was appointed as Minister of Industry by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 3 March 2022.

Controversies

Imprisonment

Dissanayake was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment by five Judge Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice

Sarath N. Silva Sarath Nanda Silva PC served as the 41st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. He obtained his Primary and Secondary school education at Trinity College Kandy and continued to Sri Lanka Law College. Prior to civil service, his ach ...

on 7 December 2004 for defaming the Supreme Court during a speech he made at a function in Habaraduwa in the year 2003. In February 2006, he was fully released by the President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

Harassment allegations

Former Sri Lankan sprint athlete

Susanthika Jayasinghe Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe ( si, සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ; Tamil: சுசந்திகா ஜயசிங்ஹ, born December 17, 1975) is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter, who specialized in the 100 and ...

alleged during a live segment on

Lasantha Wickrematunge Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge ( si, ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග, ta, லசந்த விக்கிரமதுங்க; 5 April 1958 – 8 January 2009) was a high-profile Sri Lankan journalist, politician, br ...

's show that Dissanayaka had attempted to sexually harass her. Later, Jayasinghe claimed that she did not specifically accuse Dissanayaka.

References

External links