Harini Amarasooriya has been made the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. She is the third woman leader of Sri Lanka to hold this position. She has also been the Prime Minister in the interim government formed in Sri Lanka two months ago.
Harini Amarsurya, who was made Prime Minister, studied at Hindu College of Delhi University from 1991 to 1994. He entered politics 5 years ago.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on November 14. In which President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's coalition NPP won. The new government cabinet was formed on Monday.
President Anura Kumar Dissanayake administered the oath to the Cabinet members at the President's Secretariat. This Cabinet has 22 members including the President. 2 women and 2 Tamil MPs have also been included in the cabinet. The names of the Deputy Ministers will be announced later.
According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the number of Cabinet Ministers cannot exceed 30 and the number of Deputy Ministers cannot exceed 40. Dissanayake has kept the cabinet small to reduce government spending.
Harini Amarsurya became the third woman Prime Minister Amarasooriya is the third woman to hold the post of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Before her, Sirimao Bandarnaike (3 times) and Chandrika Kumaratunga (1 time) have been the women Prime Ministers of the country. Harini Amarsurya became MP for the first time in 2020. Before entering politics, Amarsurya was a professor at Sri Lanka Open University.
Amarsurya was born in a middle class family. His father was a tea plantation owner. In the year 1972, the Land Reforms Act came into effect in Sri Lanka. In which the government took over the tea garden of Amarsurya's father. After this she came to Colombo from Galle and settled down.
Studied in India for 4 years, Imtiaz Ali and Arnab Goswami were batchmates In the year 1988-89, the situation in Sri Lanka turned violent due to the Tamil agitation. Schools and colleges were closed during this time. In such a situation, Harini Amarsurya came to India for further studies. Here he took admission in Hindu College of Delhi University. From 1991 to 1994 he studied sociology. Famous filmmaker Imtiaz Ali and journalist Arnab Goswami were his batchmates during this time.
After returning from India, Amarsurya joined a health-related NGO, where she helped children affected by the tsunami. A few years later she moved to Australia to study for a Ph.D. After returning from there, she became a professor in a college in 2011. Amarsurya took part in anti-government protests in 2015. During this time she came in contact with Dissanayake and joined his party Janata Vimukti Paramuna in 2019. In the year 2020, she became an MP for the first time by winning the parliamentary elections.
The first session of the Sri Lankan Parliament is scheduled to begin on November 21. This time most of the MPs in the Parliament are newly elected.
After the swearing in, President Dissanayake addressed the Cabinet. In this he said-
Most of the ministers are new not only to the cabinet but also to the parliament. We know very well that they are all honest and not corrupt and have the courage to fulfill people's expectations. We hope that all ministers will act responsibly.
In the parliamentary elections held on November 14, President Dissanayake's coalition won 159 out of 225 seats. In the election, his coalition got 61 percent of the votes.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
