Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne ( si, දිසානායක මුදියන්සේලාගේ ජයරත්න, ta, திசாநாயக்க முதியன்சேலாகே ஜயரத்ன; 4 June 1931 – 19 November 2019), known as D. M. "Di Mu" Jayaratne, was a veteran Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015. A founding member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Jayaratne was first elected to

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1970. He was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 April 2010.

Early life

D. M. Jayaratne was born on 4 June 1931. He was educated at Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya and at Zahira College in

Gampola Gampola ( si, ගම්පොල, ta, கம்பளை) is a town located in Kandy District, Central Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. Gampola was made the capital of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV, who ruled for four yea ...

, a town just outside

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

. Following the founding of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Kandy in 1951 by

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

, Jayaratne worked as a teacher at Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya. He later worked as

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

at Doluwa from 1960 to 1962.

Political career

Jayaratne started his political career having been elected a member of the

Village Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Doluwa, where he later became the Chairman of the Village Council. He also become the President of the Kandy District Village Council Chairmen Association and a Member of the Federation of All Ceylon Village Council. He first entered parliament following the 1970 general election, obtaining 14,463 votes as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) candidate in the Gampola electorate, and defeating W.P.B. Dissanayake 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), ...

(UNP). He was subsequently defeated by Dissanayake in the 1977 election in which just 8 members of the SLFP were returned to parliament. He was again re-elected to parliament in 1989 from the

Kandy District Kandy District ( si, මහනුවර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, ta, கண்டி மாவட்டம்) is a district of the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Its area is 1906.3 km². Administrative divisions Ethnic ...

under the new preferential voting system. He obtained 54,290 preferential votes, topping the SLFP list in the Kandy District. Re-elected to parliament under the People's Alliance in 1994, Jayaratne was appointed Minister of Land, Agriculture and Forestry by President

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

, entering the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

for the first time. He held several senior party positions such as Secretary General of People's United Front and Senior Vice President of Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Ministerial appointments he held included: * Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock (1994) * Minister of Agriculture, Land and Forestry (1997) * Minister of Agriculture and Land (1999) * Minister of Agriculture (2000) * Minister of Agriculture Land Forestry Food and Cooperative Development (2001 Probationary Government) * Minister of Post and Communication (2004 while being in the Opposition) * Minister of Post and Telecommunication (2004) * Minister of Telecommunication and Rural Economic Promotion (2005) * Minister of Telecommunication and Upcountry Development (2006) * Minister of Plantation Industries (2007)

Prime Minister

Following the election victory of the

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக� ...

at the 2010 general election, Jayaratne, the most senior member of the SLFP, was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 April 2010. Under the constitution of Sri Lanka, the role of Prime Minister is largely a ceremonial post. Along with it, he also held the Ministry of Buddha Sasana (Buddhism) and Religious Affairs.

Personal life

Jayaratne had three children. His youngest Anuradha Jayaratne, is a former State Minister and current

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, his daughter is a graduate from

Manipal University Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) is a private deemed university located in Manipal, India. The university also has campuses in Mangalore, Bangalore and Jamshedpur in India , and global campus in Dubai and Malacca (Malaysia). As of ...

Manipal Manipal is a suburb and university town within Udupi, in coastal Karnataka, India. Manipal is located five kilometres away from the centre of Udupi City, in Udupi District, Karnataka (state) in south western India. It is administered by the Udup ...

campus, India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayaratne, D. M. 1931 births 2019 deaths Government ministers of Sri Lanka Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians United People's Freedom Alliance politicians People of British Ceylon Posts ministers of Sri Lanka Telecommunication ministers of Sri Lanka Sinhalese politicians Sinhalese teachers Postmasters

Early life

Political career

Prime Minister

Personal life

See also

References