Dinesh Chandra Rupasinghe Gunawardena ( si, දිනේෂ් චන්ද්‍ර රූපසිංහ ගුණවර්ධන, ta, தினேஷ் சந்திர ரூபசிங்க குணவர்தன; born 2 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician serving as the

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, wh ...

since 22 July 2022. He also holds the positions of Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government. Gunawardena has been leader of the left-wing

Mahajana Eksath Peramuna The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) is a political party in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), for ...

(MEP) party since 1983, and has taken cabinet positions under several previous governments, including Leader of the House from 2020 until 2022. Born in a political family, the son of

Philip Gunawardena Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena (11 January 1901 – 26 March 1972) was a Sri Lankan Marxist politician and leftist. A founder of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, the first political party in Ceylon which was known for having introduced Trotskyi ...

and

Kusumasiri Gunawardena Kusumasiri Gunawardena (née Amarasinghe) (1912–1986) was a Ceylonese politician. Kusumasiri was born in Medaketiya (Tangalle) on 26 May 1912, the daughter of Don Davith Amarasinghe and Sophinona. She was educated at Rahula Maha Vidyalaya, Ta ...

, and nephew of Vivienne Goonewardene, he was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

and later at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, where he advocated pacifism in the Vietnam War. Entering politics in 1983 as a

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 ...

from

Maharagama Maharagama is an outer suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka on the High-Level (A4) Road about from the centre of the commercial capital. It developed rapidly in the 1980s as a dormitory suburb. Governed by the Maharagama Urban Council, the town possesse ...

and later

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, his first role in government was as Minister of Transport under

Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Ratnasiri Wickremanayake ( si, රත්නසිරි වික්‍රමනායක, ta, ரத்னசிறி விக்கிரமநாயக்க; 5 May 1933 – 27 December 2016) was a Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Mi ...

. In 2022, Gunawardena was appointed as the Prime Minister after former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan militar ...

resigned amidst the ongoing economic crisis and

Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

was elected as his successor.

Early life and family

Gunawardena was born into the political Gunawardena family on 2 March 1949. His father,

, was known as "the Father of Sri Lankan

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

" and a key independence figure, and his mother,

, was a member of parliament. His aunt, Vivienne Goonewardene, was often considered the "foremost female figure in the Sri Lankan left". Educated at Royal Primary School, Colombo and

, he later studied at the Netherlands School of Business. He also graduated with a

B.B.A. Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

from the

, and whilst in the United States, became involved in student activism, taking part in

anti-Vietnam War protests Protests against the Vietnam War took place in the 1960s and 1970s. The protests were part of a movement in opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The majority of the protests were in the United States, but some took place ar ...

. Gunawardena later married Ramani Wathsala Kotelawela. They had one son, Yadamini, and one daughter, Sankapali. Ramani died of undiagnosed

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...

in the mid-1980s.

Career

1972-2000

After graduation from the

, Gunawardena worked in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, but returned to Sri Lanka in 1972 after his father's death. He was appointed to the

's (MEP) central committee in August 1973, and became general-secretary of the MEP in 1974. Gunawardena was the MEP's candidate in

Avissawella Avissawella, ( si, අවිස්සාවේල්ල, ta, அவிசாவளை) is a township in Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council, situated on the A4 route from Colombo to Ratnapura, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, ap ...

at the 1977 parliamentary election, but failed to get elected until he ran as the MEP's candidate in the

Maharagama Electoral District Maharagama Electoral District was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between July 1977 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Maharagama in Colombo District, Western Province. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced ...

at the 1983 by-election, winning and entering

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 ...

. During the 1989 parliamentary election, Gunawardena successfully ran as one of the MEP's candidates in the multi-member

Colombo Electoral District Colombo Electoral District is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Colombo in the Western province. The distri ...

. He was again one of the MEP's candidates in Colombo District at the 1994 parliamentary election, but the MEP failed to win any seats in Parliament.

2000-2010

On 27 August 2000, the MEP joined the People's Alliance (PA). Gunawardena contested the 2000 parliamentary election as one of the PA's candidates in Colombo District. He was elected and re-entered Parliament. Following the 2000 election, he was appointed

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...

, and was given the additional portfolio of Environment in September 2001. He was re-elected at the 2001 parliamentary election. On 20 January 2004 the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

(SLFP) and the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anot ...

(JVP) formed 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� ...

(UPFA), which the MEP joined on 2 February 2004. Gunawardena contested the 2004 parliamentary election as one of the UPFA's candidates in Colombo District. He was elected and re-entered Parliament. He was appointed Minister of Urban Development and Water Supply and Deputy Minister of Education after the election. In January 2007 his cabinet portfolio was changed to Minister of Urban Development and Sacred Area Development but he lost his deputy ministerial position. He was appointed

Chief Government Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

in June 2008.

2010-present

Gunawardena was re-elected in the 2010 parliamentary election, following which he was appointed Minister of Water Supply. He lost his cabinet position following the 2015 presidential election, albeit being re-elected. In March 2017 he was suspended from parliamentary sittings for one week due to repeatedly disrupting proceedings. On 22 July 2022, Gunawardena was appointed as Prime Minister after former President

resigned amidst the ongoing

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and political crises and

was elected as his successor by Parliament. Gunawardena and Wickremesinghe were classmates during school days.

Electoral history

Notes

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunawardena, Dinesh Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka Transport ministers of Sri Lanka Urban development ministers of Sri Lanka Environment ministers of Sri Lanka Chief Government Whips (Sri Lanka) Deputy ministers of Sri Lanka Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 9th 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 Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka 1949 births Living people Sinhalese politicians Sinhalese trade unionists Sri Lankan Buddhists Mahajana Eksath Peramuna politicians United People's Freedom Alliance politicians Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna politicians University of Oregon alumni Nyenrode Business University alumni Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of Royal Preparatory School