D. M. Jayaratne

Honourable
 D. M. Jayaratne
MP
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 April 2010
President Mahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Minister of Agriculture
In office
2000–2001
Minister of Posts, Telecommunications & Upcountry Development
In office
2004–2007
Minister of Plantations
In office
2007–2010
Minister of Buddhasasana & Religious Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
2010
Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament
for Kandy District
In office
1989–2001
In office
2004–2010
Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament
for National List
In office
2001–2004
Incumbent
Assumed office
2010
Personal details
Born June 7, 1931 (1931-06-07) (age 80)
Nationality Sri Lankan
Political party Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Other political
affiliations		 United People's Freedom Alliance
Residence 121 Wijerama Road, Colombo 07
Religion Buddhist

Disanayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne MP (known as D. M. "Di Mu" Jayaratne;[1] Sinhala: දිසානායක මුදියන්සේලාගේ ජයරත්න; born June 7, 1931[2]) is the 20th and current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, and a veteran Sri Lankan politician. A founding member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Jayaratne was first elected to parliament in 1970. He was sworn in as Prime Minister on April 21, 2010.[3]

Contents

Early life

D. M. Jayaratne was born on June 7, 1931. He was educated at Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya in Gampola, a town just outside Kandy. He was a student at the Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya during the mid-1950s. Following the founding of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Kandy in 1951 by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Jayaratne worked as a teacher at Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya. He later worked as Postmaster at Doluwa from 1960 to 1962.[4]

Politics

Jayaratne first entered parliament following the 1970 general election, obtaining 14,463 votes as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) candidate in the Gampala electorate, and defeating W.P.B. Dissanayake of the United National Party (UNP).[5] He was subsequently defeated by Dissanayake in the 1977 election in which just 8 members of the SLFP were returned to parliament.[6] He was again re-elected to parliament in 1989 from the Kandy District under the new preferential voting system. He obtained 54,290 preferential votes, topping the SLFP list in the Kandy District.[4]

Re-elected to parliament under the People's Alliance in 1994, Jayaratne was appointed Minister of Land, Agriculture and Forestry by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, entering the cabinet for the first time.[4]

Cabinet Ministries held

Prime minister

Following the election victory of the United People's Freedom Alliance at the 2010 general election, Jayaratne, the most senior member of the SLFP, was sworn in as Prime Minister on April 21, 2010. Under the current constitution of Sri Lanka, the Prime Ministership is largely a ceremonial post. Along with it, he will also hold the ministry Buddha Sasana (Buddhism) and Religious Affairs.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201004/20100421new_prime_minister.htm
  2. ^ Parliament profile
  3. ^ D.M Jayaratne sworn in as PM, Daily Mirror, 2010-04-21
  4. ^ a b c "Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister is D. M Jayaratne". News.lk. 1931-06-07. http://news.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14847&Itemid=44. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  5. ^ "Results Of Parliamentary General Election -1970". Department of Elections. http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1970%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  6. ^ "Results Of Parliamentary General Election -1977". Department of Elections. http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_General_1977.PDF. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  7. ^ http://adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=7906
Political offices
Preceded by
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake		 Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
2010–present		 Incumbent