Dayasiri Jayasekara

The Honourable
Dayasiri Jayasekara
MP
Minister for Sport
Assumed office
4 September 2015
President Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
Preceded by Navin Dissanayake
Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
for Kurunegala District
Assumed office
2015
In office
2004 – 24 July 2013
6th Chief Minister of North Western Province
In office
3 October 2013 – 1 September 2015
Preceded by Athula Wijesinghe
Personal details
Born 12 June 1969
Sri Lanka
Political party Sri Lanka Freedom Party
(2013–)
United National Party
(2001–2013)

Jayasekara Pathirannahelage Dayasiri Pathmakumara Jayasekara (Sinhalese: දායාසිරි ජයසේකර) (born on 12 June 1969) is a Sri Lankan politician, and a singer. He was a Chief Minister of North Western Province, and current Minister for Sport in Sri Lanka.

Early life

Dayasiri Jayasekara was born on 12 June 1969.[1] He received his primary education at Hettipola Junior School, Harischandra College and Mayurapada Central College, Narammala. After obtaining a degree in law he joined the Justice Ministry as a coordinator. In 1997, he received a majority of the preferences votes in the Paduvasnuwara electorate. In 1999 he was appointed as the secretary of the Youth Association of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was instrumental in organising the 54th party conference.

Thereafter, he was appointed as Secretary to Prof. G. L. Peiris who was then the Minister of Investment Promotion. During this time Dayasiri displayed immense skills of leadership and demonstrated his ability at organising and leading the masses. He also served as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Mineral Sands Corporation.

Politics

Dayasiri commenced his political journey as a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom party. In 2001 he joined the United National Party (UNP) and was a candidate at the General Election held the same year. In 2004, he was appointed the organiser for the Katugampola electorate and received 52,457 preference votes at the General Election. In 2005, he was appointed as the organiser for Paduvasnuwara and continued to work with the residents of his electorate to uplift their living standards. In the 2010 General Election, he received 132,600 preference votes which was the highest votes received by any candidate in the Kurunegala District.

On 24 July 2013, he resigned from the UNP and joined the United Peoples Freed Alliance (UPFA) to contest the Provincial Council Elections. He broke the record of former president Chandrika Kumaratunge of most votes in provincial council election in Sri Lanka and elected as the chief Minister of the province on 21 September 2013. He is the 6th chief minister of North Western Province.

Controversy

Rift with the UNP leadership

Dayasiri was a very vocal member of the UNP that was critical of the way the party was run by its leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, who he branded as a "dictator" in 2010.[2] Along with fellow party reformist Sajith Premadasa, Dayasiri was one of the key party members of the United National Party who fought for a change in the party leadership.[3][4]

In 2012, it was widely speculated in the media that Dayasiri was about to join the government.[5][6][7] He was quick to reject these allegation as baseless and accused Ranil Wickramasinghe of pressurising him to leave the party.[8][9] As a result of his continuous criticism of the party leadership, Dayasiri was informed to be present before the party disciplinary committee.[10]

In a hard-hitting speech made in parliament on 24 July 2013, Dayasiri was critical of the UNP and its leadership and conveyed his willingness to join the government to contest the Provincial Council elections.

References

  1. ↑ "Dayasiri Jayasekara profile". Parliament.lk. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Ranil is a dictator – Dayasiri". Adaderana.lk. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Ranil-Dayasiri rift gets escalated". News.lk. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Mr. Wickremesinghe’s MOTHER OF ALL JILLMARTS". Lakbimanews.lk. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Dayasiri on UPFA platform shortly!". nation.lk. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "SBS Audio and Language : Sinhalese : Highlight: Dayasiri-Jayasekara-may-crossover-to-the-government". Sbs.com.au. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Signs of Dayasiri Jayasekara joining the government today". Hirunews.lk. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "I won't crossover to the government; Dayasiri. Can't say ; Tissa. | Lanka Cyber News". Lankacnews.com. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "Ranil's 'Media Mafia' eager to send me to UPFA – Dayasiri". nation.lk. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Ceylon Today | Dayasiri to appear before disciplinary committee". Ceylontoday.lk. 22 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.

External links

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