Harini Amarasuriya ( si, හරිනි අමරසූරිය) is a Sri Lankan academic, rights activist, university lecturer and politician who is serving as a

National List The National List ( he, רשימה ממלכתית, ''Reshima Mamlakhtit''), sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is ...

National People's Power National People's Power (NPP), or Jathika Jana Balawegaya, is an electoral coalition in Sri Lanka. It was established in 2015 by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. It consists of 28 political parties and oth ...

party. She has also served as a senior lecturer at the Department of Social Studies of the

Open University of Sri Lanka "The Open University of Sri Lanka" (OUSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විවෘත විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கை திறந்த பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a national universit ...

. She represents the

party since 2019. She is ideologically on the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

of the National People's Power Party; she considers herself to be a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

. Harini is well known for her researches on pressing issues such as youth unemployment, gender inequality, child protection and inefficiencies in Sri Lankan education system. She also currently runs works as a member of the Board of Directors of a Sri Lankan local NGO called, Nest.

Career

She completed her PhD degree in

Social Anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. She also published books and conducted researches on youth, politics, dissent, activism, gender, development, state society relations, child protection, globalization and development. She pursued her career in activism in 2011 after joining in as a member of the Federation of University Teachers' Association and joined the protests demanding for free education. After serving as a child protection and psychosocial practitioner for several years, she joined the Open University of Sri Lanka as a senior lecturer in the field of

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. Harini joined th
National Intellectuals Organization
in 2019 and campaigned for the NPP Candidate

Anura Kumara Dissanayake Anura may refer to: Biology * Anura (frog), the order for frogs * ''Anura'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family People Anura is a common given name in Sri Lanka * Anura Bandaranaike (1949–2008), Sri Lankan politician * An ...

during the

2019 Sri Lankan presidential election Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Mus ...

. On 12 August 2020, she was nominated and appointed by the JJB as the national list candidate to enter the

16th Parliament of Sri Lanka The 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka is the current Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2020 parliamentary election held on 5 August 2020. According to the Constitution ...

following the

2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 16th Parliament. 16,263,885 people were eligible to vote in the election, 31.95% of whom were young voters. The incumbent Sri Lanka People's ...

. Confusions and concerns were also raised whether Harini could continue her service as an academic senior lecturer at the Open University after being nominated as national list candidate. However, in an interview with EconomyNext, she officially revealed that she had resigned from the position of senior lecturer of the Open University in order to pursue her political career and parliamentary politics as an MP.

References

External links

Harini Amarasuriya, Parliament directory of members
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amarasuriya, Harini Academic staff of the Open University of Sri Lanka Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna politicians National People's Power politicians Living people Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Sinhalese academics Sinhalese activists Sinhalese politicians Sri Lankan human rights activists Sri Lankan women academics Sri Lankan women activists Women legislators in Sri Lanka 1970 births