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Get to know the main contenders’ core teams
View(s):By Chandani Kirinde
The three main contenders in the September 21 presidential election—Independent candidate President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader of the Opposition and SJB Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa, and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake—are senior parliamentarians and have in their teams both experienced politicians as well as experts in various fields.
For President Wickremesinghe, this will be his third shot at the presidency, while for the SJB and NPP leaders, it will be the second time they are seeking to win the presidency.
The Sunday Times takes a brief look at the political careers of the three main candidates, as well as a few others who are part of the teams working to ensure their candidate’s victory.
- INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE RANIL WICKREMESINGHE
Ranil Wickremesinghe was born on March 24, 1949, and is the second son of Esmond and Nalini Wickremesinghe. He received his primary and secondary education at Royal College, Colombo, graduated from Colombo University with a degree in Law, and enrolled as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1972.
Mr. Wickremesinghe was elected to Parliament in 1977, having worked in the Youth League of the UNP from his university days. He first held the post of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in President J.R. Jayewardene’s government and was later elevated to the Cabinet as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Employment and Education.
He was first appointed Prime Minister in 1993 following the assassination of President Ranasinghe Premadasa and served in the post till 1994, when the UNP was defeated in the general election held that year. His second tenure as PM was from 2001 to 2004 in the United National Front government during the presidency of Chandrika Kumaratunga. His third term as PM was from 2015 to 2019 in the coalition government under President Maithripala Sirisena. In May 2022, he was appointed PM for the fourth time by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa following the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa from the post amidst public protests and took on the unenviable task of getting the country out of an unprecedented economic crisis and political instability.
Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the President of Sri Lanka on July 21, 2022, following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
He is the Leader of the United National Party (UNP) and has served as an MP in all Parliaments since 1977. In the last general election in 2020, the UNP was routed as internal strife within the party led to a majority of its members joining the newly formed SJB under the leadership of Sajith Premadasa. Mr. Wickremesinghe entered Parliament from the single National List seat the UNP won in 2020.
Ranil Wickremesinghe contested the 1999 and 2005 presidential elections and was defeated at both attempts.
Sagala Ratnayake entered politics in 1999, being elected as a member of the Southern Provincial Council. He contested the 2000 general election and was elected from the Matara District. In the UNP government from 2001-2004, he served as the Deputy Minister of Power and Energy. From 2015 to 2018, he served as Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development.
Vajira Abeywardena is the Chairman of the UNP and a senior politician. He first entered Parliament in 2000 from the Galle District. He served as the Cabinet Minister of Public Administration, Management, and Reforms under the UNP government from 2001 to 2004. He was appointed Minister of Home Affairs and served in the post from 2015 to 2019 under the Yahapalanaya government. He contested the 2019 general election but was defeated. He was appointed to Parliament in July 2022 after Ranil Wickramasinghe was appointed president and the UNP’s National List seat fell vacant.
Harin Fernando began his political career as a member of the Uva Provincial Council from the UNP. He was elected to Parliament from the Badulla District in 2010. He was appointed as Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure in the Yahapalanaya government. Mr. Fernando was one of the main forces behind the formation of the SJB in 2020. However, he broke ranks with the SJB and joined President Wickremesinghe’s government in August 2022 and was appointed as Minister of Tourism. He was appointed Sports Minister in November 2023 after the former minister, Roshan Ranasinghe, was removed from the post by the President. He lost his seat in parliament in August 2024, after the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the SJB to expel him from the Party for supporting the President. He is currently a special adviser to the President.
Manusha Nanayakkara entered parliament in 2010 from the UNP as a Galle District MP and soon joined the UPFA and contested the general election and was re-elected. Later he joined the SJB and contested the 2020 election and won a seat. In August 2022, he along with Harin Fernando joined the government of President Wickremesinghe and was appointed as the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment. He lost his seat in parliament in August 2024, after the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the SJB to expel him from the Party for supporting the President. He is currently a special adviser to the President.
Dinesh Gunawardena hails from a political family and is the son of Philip Gunawardena and Kusuma Gunawardena. He first entered parliament in 1983 as the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) MP for the Maharagama electorate, having won the by-election held that year. In 2000 he joined the People’s Alliance led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga and was elected from the Colombo District. He has held several cabinet portfolios, including those of urban development and water supply. He served as Foreign Minister from 2019 to 2020 under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In July 2022, he was appointed Prime Minister after the current president took office. He is also the Leader of the House in the current parliament.
Prasanna Ranatunga began his political career by contesting the Provincial Council election in 2009 from the UPFA and was elected the Chief Minister of the Western Province and served in the post from May 2009–September 2015. He entered parliament in 2015 from Gampaha District as an UPFA member. In the 2020 election, he contested from the SLPP, was elected to parliament, and was appointed Minister for Industrial Export and Investment Promotion in the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government. He is currently the Minister of Urban Development and Housing as well as the Chief Government Whip in Parliament.
Kanchana Wijesekera entered parliament in 2015 having contested from the UPFA in the Matara District. In the 2020 general election, he contested from the SLPP and was returned to Parliament. He is currently the Minister of Power and Energy.
Rohitha Abeygunawardena entered parliament in 2004 as a UPFA MP from the Kalutara District. Since then, he has served as a MP and also held several cabinet portfolios including those of Ports and Shipping.
Nimal Siripala De Silva entered parliament in the general election of 1989, having contested from the Colombo District on the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) ticket. With the SLFP-led People’s Alliance (PA) taking power under President Kumaratunga in 1994, he was appointed to the cabinet and held several ministerial portfolios, including those of Posts and Telecommunications and Health. He has held several ministerial portfolios under both President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa and is now the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation. Since 2000 he has contested from the Badulla District. He is also currently the acting chairman of the SLFP.
Shehan Semasinghe entered parliament in 2010 as a UPFA MP from the Anuradhapura District. Since then, he has held onto his parliamentary seat. In 2019, he was appointed as State Minister of Development Banks and Loan Schemes by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He was appointed State Minister of Finance by President Wickremesinghe in 2022 and has been one of the chief negotiators with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Akila Viraj Kariyawasam entered parliament in 2004 from the Kurunegala District, having contested on the UNP ticket. In 2015, he was elected to parliament and served as Education Minister until 2019. He is the Assistant Leader of the UNP at present.
Ali Zayed Moulana first entered Parliament as a UNP MP from the Batticaloa District in 1994 and later joined the SLMC. In 2004, he was appointed as a National List MP by the UNP. He has extended support to President Wickremesinghe in the upcoming general election, breaking ranks with the SLMC, which is backing the SJB candidate. He was appointed the non-cabinet Minister of Development Projects by President Wickremesinghe in August.
Ruwan Wijewardene entered parliament in 2010 having contested from the Gampaha District on the UNP ticket. Prior to entering parliament, he was a member of the Western Provincial Council from 2009 to 2010. In 2015, after the UNP-led government took office, he was appointed the State Minister of Defence. He is currently a senior advisor to President Ranil Wickremesinghe on climate change.
- SJB CANDIDATE SAJITH PREMADASA
Sajith Premadasa was born on January 12, 1967, in Colombo and is the son of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa and Mrs. Hema Premadasa. He studied at St. Thomas Preparatory College and Royal College and later attended the London School of Economics. He also interned at the US Senate, working in its Foreign Relations Committee while reading for his Master of Science degree at the University of Maryland, but had to abandon his studies and return home to Sri Lanka when his father was assassinated in May, 1993.
He got into active politics in 1994, following the footsteps of his late father, and was appointed the district organiser for the Hambantota District from the UNP. From the inception, he made it a priority to focus on poverty alleviation programmes that were the hallmark of his father’s long political career.
Mr. Premadasa contested the 2000 parliamentary elections and won with the highest number of preferential votes in the district and entered the parliament for the first time in August that year. In the snap election held in 2001, the UNP assumed office and he was appointed Deputy Minister of Health. He was appointed as the deputy leader of the United National Party in 2011.
Following the presidential election of January 2015, the UNP came to power, and Mr. Premadasa was appointed the Minister of Housing and Samurdhi Affairs. He used his ministerial powers to revive the programmes that had been popularised by his father, such as shelter for all and model village programmes.
Despite internal strife within the UNP, Sajith Premadasa was named the candidate to contest the 2019 presidential election from the UNP-led New Democratic Front for the 2019 presidential election. He lost to the SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa but secured over 5.5 million votes.
In 2020, he broke away from the UNP and formed the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). In the parliamentary election held that year, the SJB won 54 seats in the legislature, thus making it the second largest party in parliament. With it, he was appointed Leader of the Opposition.
Rajitha Madduma Bandara is the General Secretary of the SJB and a senior politician who first entered parliament in 1989 as one of the three UNP MPs elected from the Monaragala District. He has served as a MP since then and also served as a Cabinet Minister between 2015 and 2019. In 2020, he left the UNP and joined the SJB.
Lakshman Kiriella first entered parliament in 1989 as an SLFP MP from the Kandy District. In 2001, he joined the UNP and contested and was returned to Parliament. He has held several ministerial portfolios under the SLFP and UNP-led governments, including those of Minister of Higher Education and Highways, Plantation Industries, and Tourism and Sports. He also served as the Leader of the House from 2015 to 2019 and joined the SJB in 2020.
Harsha De Silva first entered parliament as a National List MP from the UNP in 2010 and was elected in 2015 from the Colombo District. He left the UNP in 2020 and joined the SJB and was re-elected to parliament that year. From 2015 to 2019,he also served as the Non-Cabinet Minister of Economic Reforms, State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He heads SJB candidate Sajith Premadasa’s economic troika and is slated to be the Finance Minister if Mr. Premadasa is elected president.
Kabir Hashim was first elected to parliament from the UNP in 2001 from the Kegalle District. He has served as Minister of Highways, Higher Education, and Investment Promotion and is in the ‘economic troika’ of the SJB. He left the UNP and joined the SJB in 2020.
Eran Wickramaratne first entered parliament from the UNP’s National List in 2010 and was elected as a Colombo District MP at the general election of 2015. In 2020, he joined the SJB and was elected as a National List MP. He served as State Minister of Finance from 2015 to 2019. He is a member of the SJB candidate’s economic team.
Rauff Hakeem who began his political career with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) first entered Parliament in 1994 as a National List MP from the People’s Alliance (PA) with which the SLMC had an electoral pact. He contested from Kandy in the 2000 general elections and was elected to Parliament. In 2001, he joined the UNP and was again elected to Parliament in the general election held that year. He has held several ministerial portfolios including those of Ports and Shipping. He joined the SJB in 2020.
Dayasiri Jayasekera began his political career with the Sri Lanka Freedom party (SLFP) but joined the UNP in 2001 and entered parliament in 2004 by winning a seat in the general election held that year from the Kurunegala District. In 2013, he resigned from the UNP and joined the SLFP-led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). He contested from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in 2020 and returned to Parliament. In August, he announced that the SLFP faction led by him will extend support to the SJB candidate for the upcoming presidential election.
Nalaka Godahewa first entered parliament in 2020 and was one of the main organisers of the “viyathmaga” organisation that propelled Gotabaya Rajapaksa to the office of president in 2019. He contested the general election from the SLPP in 2020 and won the highest number of preferential votes in the Gampaha District. He, along with several other SLPP MPs, announced in February that they would extend support to the SJB candidate for the upcoming general election.
Champika Ranawaka’s interest in politics began while he was a student at the Moratuwa University, where he was a student activist and later joined the Sihala Urumaya organization. He was first elected to parliament in 2007 when Omalpe Sobitha Thera who had been appointed as a National List MP of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) resigned his seat, making way for Mr. Ranawaka. In 2010, he contested from the UPFA and was elected from the Colombo District. He joined the Yahapalanaya government in 2015 and served as the Minister of Megapolis and Western Province Development. He contested the 2020 general election from the SJB and was elected to Parliament. In August, he announced his support for the SJB candidate in the upcoming election.
Rishad Bathiudeen is the leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Party. He was first elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) from the Vanni District in the 2001 general election. He has continued to hold the seat since then. He has held several ministerial portfolios both in the governments of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Maithripala Sirisena, including as Minister of Industries, Resettlement, and Disaster Relief Services. He joined the SJB in 2020 and has extended his support to the SJB candidate in the upcoming presidential election.
Mujibur Rahuman entered Parliament in 2015 from the Colombo District as MP from the UNP-led United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) party that was formed to contest the 2015 general election. He joined the SJB in 2020 and was elected to Parliament. He resigned from Parliament in February 2024 with the hope of contesting for the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) as the SJB’s mayoral candidate. As the local government elections were postponed, Rahuman was reappointed as a National List MP in May from the SJB after Diana Gamage lost her seat following a court order on her citizenship status.
Nalin Bandara Jayamaha first entered Parliament in 2013 as a UNP MP from the Kurunegala District, allowing the resignation of Dayasiri Jayasekera. He served in the Northwestern Provincial Council prior to his entry to Parliament. He served as Deputy Minister of Law and Order under the Yahapalanaya government. He joined the SJB in 2020.
Mahesh Senanayake a former Army Commander (2017-2019) joined the SJB in May this year and heads the ‘Samagi Ranawiru Balawegaya.’ He contested the 2019 presidential election and got less than one percent of the votes polled. He contested as the candidate of the National People’s Movement (NPM).
- NPP CANDIDATE ANURA KUMARA DISSANAYAKE
NPP presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake was born on November 24, 1968, in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. He schooled at Thambuththegama Central College, Anuradhapura, and later entered the University of Kelaniya, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree.
Mr. Dissanayake immersed himself in the student political movement in 1987 as university protests began to flare up in the aftermath of the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord that year. He was inducted into the Central Committee of the JVP in 1997 and was appointed to the politburo in 1998. In 2014, he became the JVP leader, replacing Somawansa Amarasinghe, who had taken over the party leadership following the death of its founder, Rohana Wijeweera.
First elected to parliament in 2001, winning from the Colombo district, he has served as an MP for 24 years, including a stint as a National List MP from 2010 to 2015, when the JVP contested as a part of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), led by former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka.
The JVP leader served as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation in the “probationary government” under President Chandrika Kumaratunga from February 2004 to June 2005, but the JVP-Chandrika partnership ended over the JVP’s opposition to the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (PTOMS) proposed by her government that was to work with the LTTE in the North and East in the reconstruction of the two provinces after the 2004 tsunami hit Sri Lanka.
He was appointed Chief Opposition Whip from September 2015 to December 2018 during the period that the late TNA leader R. Sampanthan served as the Leader of the Opposition during Maithripala Sirisena’s presidency.
Mr. Dissanayake contested the presidential election in 2019 as the JVP candidate and came in third, securing 418,553 votes (3.16%) of the total votes polled, and in the 2020 general election he won a parliamentary seat from the Colombo district, winning 49,814 votes.
He was elected the leader of the NPP when the JVP launched a secondary front in alliance with it and its first National Convention held in December 2021.
The founder of the JVP, Rohana Wijeweera, contested the 1982 presidential elections and won 275,000 votes, while in 1999 another JVP member, Nandana Gunathilaka, contested and secured 344,173 votes.
This is Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s second bid for the presidency.
Tilvin Silva is the General Secretary of the JVP and is the only member of the party’s politburo not to be a member of the NPP executive committee. He has held the all-powerful post of General Secretary of the JVP since 2004, but has not contested an election. Instead, he has prioritised re-building the JVP after the annihilation of most of its senior members during the 1989-1990 period.
Viijita Herath is the NPP’s Gampaha District MP and Information Secretary of the JVP. He schooled at Ananda College, Badulla, and Bandarawela Central College and graduated from the University of Kelaniya with a Bachelor of Science (BSc). He first entered Parliament in 2001 from the Gampaha District from the JVP and has continued to hold the seat since then. He was appointed the JVP propaganda secretary (now information secretary) after its previous holder, MP Wimal Weerawansa, left the party in 2008. He also served as Minister of Cultural Affairs under President Kumaratunga’s government.
Sunil Handunnetti, who is the Financial Secretary of the JVP, had his schooling at Dharmashoka College, Ambalangoda, and graduated from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura with a BSc. He first entered parliament in 2001, being elected from the Matara District. He served till 2015 and was defeated at the general election held that year. However, he was appointed to parliament through the National List and served as Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) from 2015 to 2019.He lost his parliamentary seat in the 2020 general election. He also served as a Deputy Minister under President Kumaratunga’s government between 2004 and 2005.
Bimal Ratnayake, the JVP’s National Organiser, served as an MP between 2001–2010 and again from 2015 to 2020. He is a past pupil of Tangalle Primary College and Ananda College, Colombo. He was selected to study Civil Engineering at the University of Moratuwa but could not complete his degree. He is a member of the ex-co of the NPP. He lost his parliamentary seat in the 2020 general election. He also served as a Deputy Minister under President Kumaratunga’s government between 2004-2005.
Lal Kantha served as MP from 2001–2010 and is a pupil of Anuradhapura Central College. He is the Administrative Secretary of the JVP and is on the ex-co of the NPP. He served as Minister of Primary Industries under President Kumaratunga’s government from April 2004 to May 2005.
Harini Amarasuriya entered Parliament as a National List MP from the NPP in 2020. She is a past pupil of Bishop’s College, Colombo, and graduated from the University of Delhi with a BA in Sociology. She also has a Master’s Degree from the Macquarie University in Applied Anthropology and Development. She was a senior lecturer in sociology and social anthropology at the Open University of Sri Lanka before entering full-time politics. She is an ex-co-member of the NPP.
Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe is the General Secretary of the NPP. He was a member of the NPP delegation that visited India in February this year. He is a Deputy Director of the Institute for Research and Development, which specialises in health and social care research.
Prof. Anil Jayantha is a member of the NPP’s Executive Committee. He was a member of the NPP delegation that visited India in February this year. He was a senior lecturer at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
Samantha Vidyaratne entered Parliament in 2004 from the Badulla District and served till 2010 as an MP. He was a deputy minister during the 2004-2005 probationary government between the JVP and President Kumaratunga. He is a member of the ex-co of the NPP.
Wasantha Samarasinghe entered parliament in 2004 and served as a National List MP till 2008. He is a past public of Tambuththegama Maha Vidyalaya and a graduated from the University of Kelaniya with a degree in Business Management. He is a trade union leader and is a member of the ex-co of the NPP.
Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma is a member of the Economic Council of the National People’s Power (NPP) and an ex-co-member. He holds a Master’s degree from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) and a PhD in Business Performance.
Ananda Wijepala is the national organiser of the National Intellectual Organisation of the NPP and a member of the Party’s ex-co.
Ashoka Peiris, former secretary to the Ministry of Lands, he heads the National Election monitoring centre of the NPP.
Shani Abeysekera, a retired Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) he is the head of the National Security Committee of the NPP.
Pix by Nilan Maligaspe and Priyanka Samarweera
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