Bernadine Rose Senanayake, JP, UM (known as ''Rosy Senanayake'') (née Ramanayake; born 5 January 1958) is a Sri Lankan politician, a former beauty queen and also an activist. She is the current

Mayor of Colombo The Mayor of Colombo is the Mayor (and head) of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The Mayor is assisted by the Deputy Mayor and a ...

, and former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

's Spokesperson and the Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office for

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 ...

. She has been an activist on several issues and an active figure in the opposition gaining much limelight. Rosy Senanayake was the former state minister for child development under President

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

. She was also the

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 ...

Western Provincial Council The Western Province ( si, බස්නාහිර පළාත ''Basnāhira Paḷāta''; ta, மேல் மாகாணம் ''Mael Mākāṇam'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the c ...

and the chief organizer of

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), ...

for the Colombo West electorate. Senanayake has served as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner for

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and was a

Goodwill Ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a public ...

for the

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies ...

Family

She was educated at Embilipitiya Maha Vidayala (1969–1974) and Ferguson High School, Ratnapura. She married late Athula Senanayake, an entrepreneur who is the son of Stanley Senanayake, a former

Inspector General of Police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...

and Maya Senanayake, the daughter of the founder of

Nalanda College, Colombo Nalanda CollegeG 498 ...

P. de S. Kularatne ( MP). They (Athula and Rosy) have three children Kanishka, Thisakya and Radhya.

Beauty queen

Senanayake won the first Mrs. World competition in 1985. She is also a former Miss Asia Pacific International 1981 and competed as Miss Sri Lanka in

Miss World 1980 Miss World 1980, the 30th anniversary of the Miss World pageant, was held on 13 November 1980 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom, televised for the first time by Thames Television for ITV. The winner was Gabriella Brum from Ge ...

Community work

Rosy-S-and-Priyanke-D-computer-training-center

Her professional life has been devoted to promoting Sri Lanka and particularly Sri Lankan trade to the world. She works for the rights of women and adolescents in her country and as a United Nations Population Fund Goodwill Ambassador. Through the National Youth Services Council she promoted reproductive health services for young people and for migrant women workers in Sri Lanka's Free Trade Zone. Senanayake has worked with the private sector to provide reproductive health services to employees of private companies in Sri Lanka and recently starred in a film about reproductive health. Through her popular daytime television program ''Eliya'' she has become an icon for women's and children's causes in Sri Lanka.

Diplomatic work

In 1998 she was appointed as a

. Senanayake was appointed as Sri Lankan High Commissioner to

in 2002, which she held until 2004.

Politics

A major opposition activist, she is the Chief Organiser for the Colombo West Electorate of the

. She was elected to the Western Provincial Council in 2009, topping the preferential votes list in Colombo District by obtaining 80,884 votes. There, she served as the Leader of the Opposition until being elected to the parliament in 2010 securing the fourth place in the UNP list with 66,357 preferences. In Parliament, she has raised several prominent issues such as violence against women and children, chauvinism and socio-cultural and socio-economic problems affecting Sri Lanka. The UK-based ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'' in its edition of 14 June 2013 published an article titled, "Top 10 sexist moments in politics: Julia Gillard, Hillary Clinton and more" which described an encounter in 2012 between Rosy Senanayake and

Kumara Welgama Kumara Welgama ( si, කුමාර වෙල්ගම) (born 5 April 1950) is a Sri Lankan politician and a current member of parliament for the Kalutara District. Welgama had been a minister of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the past. Since 2 ...

, Sri Lanka's transport minister, as sexist. Welgama is quoted as saying, "You are such a charming woman. I cannot explain my feelings here. But if you meet me outside Parliament, I will describe them … My thoughts are running riot … I don't want to reveal

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

to the public." Senanayake was unimpressed, saying, "......As a woman you are not recognised as a person who has done so many portfolios, but always referred to as the beauty you were in your heyday. I consider that as a sexist remark."

Allegations

Witnesses were appeared before

Presidential Commission of Inquiry A Presidential Commission of Inquiry is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue ordered by the President of Sri Lanka to report findings, give advice and make recommendations. Types Two types of inquiries can be commissioned; * ...

that Rosy Senanayake had leaked some secret information of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) in

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 ...

to the Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL). Nuwan Salgado, the Chief Dealer of PTL, revealed at the Commission that Arjun Aloysius, the Chief Executive Officer of the PTL, had received a document in 2016 related to the COPE from ''Rosy's son'', the son of Rosy Senanayake. Rosy rejected the allegations stating that she was not a Member of Parliament at the time.

References

External links

*
Biographies of UN Advocates and Goodwill Ambassadors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senanayake, Rosy Living people 1958 births Mayors of Colombo Mrs. World winners State ministers of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the Western Provincial Council High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to Malaysia United National Party politicians 21st-century Sri Lankan women politicians Sri Lankan women diplomats Women government ministers of Sri Lanka Women legislators in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan beauty pageant winners Miss Asia Pacific International winners Miss World 1980 delegates Sri Lankan women ambassadors Beauty queen-politicians