Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake,
PC (known as Gamini Dissanayake; si, ලයනල් ගාමිණි දිසානායක, ta, காமினி திஸாநாயக்க; 20 March 1942 – 24 October 1994) was a prominent Sri Lankan politician, a powerful minister 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), ...
, and
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. He was designated as the UNP candidate in the
1994 presidential election, but was then assassinated by the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
(LTTE).
Early life and education
He was born in
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 ...
as the second son of a family of seven children, his father was
Andrew Dissanayake who served as an
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 ...
and the
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of
Nationalised Services and Shipping in 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 ...
government of
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. His mother was Welegedara Samaratunga Kumarihamy from
Kotmale
Kotmale ( si, කොත්මලේ, translit=Kotmalē; ta, கொத்மலை, translit=Kotmalai) is a village in Sri Lanka in Central Province. Kotmale forms part of a mountainous region that the Sinhalese kings left forested to generate su ...
. The wealthy Dissanayake family resided in both
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 ...
as well as
Nuwara Eliya
Nuwara Eliya ( si, නුවර එළිය ; ta, நுவரெலியா) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrativ ...
. Dissanayake had his schooling at the prestigious
Trinity College, Kandy
"Look to the End"
, mottoes =
, founder = John Ireland Jones
, established =
, type = Independent Private
, affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican
, grade ...
. He later completed an
MPhil
The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...
in International Relations at the
Wolfson College, Cambridge
Wolfson College () is a colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The majority of students at the college are postgraduate education, postgraduates. The college also a ...
in 1992.
Legal career
In 1961, he entered
Ceylon Law College
Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...
and took his finals in 1966. He apprenticed under
Neville Samarakoon
Neville Dunbar Mirahawatte Samarakoon, Q.C. (22 October 1919 – 1990) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, who served as the 36th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1984. His father was A. C. W. Samarakoon and his mother was Chandrawathi Mirahawatte Ku ...
,
QC and
call to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
an
Advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...
in July 1967. He thereafter started his legal practice in the
unofficial bar in the Colombo District Court as a junior to B. J. Fernando, PC. Later he went on to
take silks as a
President's Counsel
President's Counsel (postnominal PC) is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka to be one of the "President's Counsel learned in the law". The term is also recognized as an honorific which replaced the practice of appoint ...
in 1988.
Political career
Parliament
Following is father's legacy, he sought nomination from 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 ...
for the
1970 general elections from the
Nuwara Eliya electorate, but was refused. He instead contested from 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) and was elected as a member of parliament under
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) candidature and was one of the 18 UNP members in the parliament at a time when his party has faced an humiliating defeat. However, he was unseated in an election petition and faced suspension of his civic rights for seven years. That year a modification of the law by Minister of Justice,
Felix Dias Bandaranaike
Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike ( Sinhala:ෆීලික්ස් ඩයස් බණඩාරනායක) (5 November 1930 – 26 June 1985) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, who served as Cabinet Minister of Finance, Parliamentary Secret ...
to benefit
Nanda Ellawala, allowed for Dissanayake to retain his civic rights and contest the by-election regaining his seat in parliament in 1972.
Minister
He comfortably secured his Nuwaraeliya-Maskeliya multielectorate seat in the
1977 general elections and was appointed as the minister of Mahaweli Development. Dissanyake spearheaded the
Mahaweli Development Project. This was a huge project which was expected to take 30 years to finish. But due to Dissanayake's skills he managed to finish the project within 6 years. The Mahaweli Development Project is the largest development project conducted in Sri Lanka after independence. The whole country was affected by the project which focused on irrigation, hydro power generation, agriculture, town & country development. Further it was criticised by the time as to introduce sinhala population into Tamil's motherland. Majority of the power generated for the local consumption is generated from these hydropower plants while an overwhelming majority of the rice cultivation in Sri Lanka is conducted in these
Mahaweli
The Mahaweli River ( si, මහවැලි ගඟ, literally "Great Sandy River"; ta, மகாவலி ஆறு 'mahawali gangai'', is a long river, ranking as the longest river in Sri Lanka. It has a drainage basin of , the largest in the ...
areas.
He was the chairperson of the
Sri Lanka Cricket Board in the early 1980s and helped his country to gain the Test Status in cricket. He played a pivotal role in signing the Indoo-Lanka Peace Accord in 1987. In 1989 he was re elected as an MP from Nuwaraeliya District securing the highest percentage of preferential votes obtained by any UNP MP. He was the Minister of Estate Development during Premadasa regime. He was not awarded a portfolio in 1990 cabinet reshuffle and remained as a back-seat MP in the parliament. Dissanayake was accused of abduction of Prof. Ralph Bultjens. Prof Rohan Goonarathne in an interview with Hasitha Kuruppu told that Dissanayake did that as Bultjens in his lectures accused Dissanayake for swindling of money. Later he was acquitted from the courts.
United National Democratic Front
He played a major role in the aborted impeachment motion against President Premadasa and as a result was expelled from UNP in 1991. In the same year Dissanayaka joined
Lalith Athulathmudali
Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, PC (; 26 November 1936 – 23 April 1993), known as Lalith Athulathmudali, was a Sri Lankan statesman. He was a prominent member of the United National Party, who served as Minister of Trade and Sh ...
to form United National Democratic Front (DUNF) which was a rising political force of that era. Dissanayaka contested to Kandy District at 1993 provincial council elections and became a member of the Central Provincial Council. After the assassination of Athulathmudali, Dissanayake became the leader of DUNF.
Return to the UNP
Later he rejoined UNP and was appointed to the parliament as a national list MP and was offered a vital portfolio in the Wijethunga Government. In 1994 PA came to power defeating UNP when Dissanayaka was re elected as a member of parliament from Kandy District. In a contest held among UNP MPs to choose the opposition leader Dissanayaka recorded a comfortable victory over previous prime minister
Ranil Wickramasinghe
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 ...
.
Assassination
When President
D.B. Wijetunga indicated he would not run in the
1994 presidential election, Dissanayake was selected as the UNP candidate at the same time he was the Leader of the Opposition in parliament. This was cut short when he was assassinated by a
female suicide bomber
Female suicide bombers are women who carry out a suicide attack, wherein the bomber kills herself while simultaneously killing targeted people. Suicide bombers are normally viewed as male political radicals but since the 1960s female suicide attac ...
of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
(LTTE) while he was addressing an election meeting at Thotalanga. Government of India deputed Salim Ali IPS of CBI and
Professor T D Dogra of All India Institute of Medical Sciences to assist the investigations of Gamini Dissanayake's assassination.
His wife
Srima Dissanayake ran in his stead, but was defeated by
People's Alliance candidate and Prime Minister
Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...
.
Family
Gamini Dissanayake married Srima Lenaduwa in 1968. They had two sons, who are active in politics, Navin and Mayantha. His eldest son
Navin was the Cabinet Minister of State Management Reforms in President
Mahinda Rajapakse
Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...
's Government and Member of Parliament for
Nuwara Eliya District; he was non-cabinet Minister of Investment Promotion too.
Mayantha contested for the
2010 General Election for
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 ...
as a UNP candidate.
Further reading
*
See also
*
List of political families in Sri Lanka
This is a partial listing of prominent political families in Sri Lanka.
Abdul Majeed
* A. L. Abdul Majeed (15 November 1933 – 13 November 1987) also known as Mutur Majeed, former Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Member Par ...
References
External links
Gamini Dissanayake Upahara ''(One Hour Rare Video)''A distinguished person and a noble son of Sri Lanka A Charismatic and Caring Leader Reflections on 67th Birth Anniversary Gamini Dissanayake: Servant of LankaQUALITIES OF Gamini Dissanayake Gamini: The renaissance manGamini Dissanayake, a political colossusThe Miracle-Maker; The Robert Kennedy Of Sri Lanka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dissanayake, Gamini
1942 births
1994 deaths
20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers
Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College
Alumni of Wolfson College, Cambridge
Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy
President's Counsels (Sri Lanka)
Assassinated Sri Lankan politicians
Leaders of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka
People killed during the Sri Lankan Civil War
Politicians from Kandy
Power ministers of Sri Lanka
Provincial councillors of Sri Lanka
Ceylonese advocates
Sinhalese lawyers
Sinhalese politicians
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Sri Lankan cricket administrators
Suicide bombings in Sri Lanka
Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1994
United National Party politicians