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Weerasangilige Wimal Weerawansa (born 7 March 1970) is a
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n politician, Member of Parliament and current leader of the
National Freedom Front The Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) or ''National Freedom Front'' (NFF) is a political party in Sri Lanka was formed by the ten JVP parliamentarians led by Wimal Weerawansa, the breakaway group of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP, started their pol ...
(NFF). Weerawansa has served many cabinet positions, including Minister of Industries from 2020 to 2022, Minister of Small and Medium Business and Enterprise Development, Industries and Supply Chain Management from 2019 to 2020, Minister of Housing and Social Welfare in 2018 and the Minister of Construction and Housing from 2010 to 2015.


Early life and family

Weerawanssa was born 7 March 1970. He is the son of Weerasangilige Podineris, a dancing teacher and professional musician, and Wadachcharige Salie. Weerawansha has one brother (Sarath Weerawansha) and three sisters (Weerasangilige Sumanawathie, Chandani Weerawansha and Nilani Weerawansha). Weerawansha was educated at
Tissa Central College Tissa Central College ( si, තිස්ස මධ්‍ය විද්‍යාලය ''Thissa Madhya Vidyālaya''), located in Kalutara, Sri Lanka, is a national school. It is the first Buddhist English School in the northern part of the town. ...
in
Kalutara Kalutara ( si, කළුතර, ta, களுத்துறை) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south o ...
where he played for the school cricket team. Weerawansha passed eight GCE O levels and started studying
GCE A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
but was expelled for not attending classes. Weerawansa is married to Ranasinghe Mudiyanselage Shirsha Udayanthi (Sashi). They have a son (Wibhuthi Wishwajith Weerawansha) and a daughter (Wimasha Wishwadari).


Career

Weerawansa joined 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) during its second insurrection and wrote articles in ''Lakdiva'' and ''Hiru'', pro-JVP periodicals. He was known by various aliases including Wimalasiri Gamlath and Wanshanatha. He was president of the Peoples' Movement for Freedom (Nidahasa Udesa Janatha Viyaparaya), propaganda secretary and
politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...
member of the JVP. In his early political years Weerawansha was greatly influenced by
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 disliked
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
as much as
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
. He even accused the ultra-nationalist National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT) of orchestrating a
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
. However, as time went by, Weerawansa and the JVP slowly began to move away from
Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
and towards
Sinhalese nationalism Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism is a Sri Lankan political ideology which combines a focus upon Sinhalese culture and ethnicity (nationalism) with an emphasis upon Theravada Buddhism, which is the majority belief system of most of the Sinhalese in ...
. Weerawansa was one of the Sri Lanka Progressive Front (a JVP-led front) candidates in
Colombo District Colombo District ( si, කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''kol̠am̆ba distrikkaya''; ta, கொழும்பு மாவட்டம் ''Koḻumpu Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level ...
at the 1994 parliamentary election, but the SLPF failed to win any seats in the district. He contested the 1997 local government election as a JVP candidate and was elected to the
Colombo Municipal Council The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 muni ...
. He contested the 1999 provincial council election as one of the JVP's candidates in Colombo District, and as the JVP's chief minister candidate, but failed to get elected. The JVP nevertheless appointed Weerawansa to the
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 ...
. Weerawansa contested the 2000 parliamentary election as one of the JVP's candidates in Colombo District. He was elected and entered
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 ...
. He was re-elected at the 2001 parliamentary election. Weerawansha played key roles in the JVP's opposition to
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 ...
Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...
's
devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...
plans and the Norwegian facilitated peace talk with the
militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...
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 ...
. 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 JVP got together to form 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). Weerawansa was one of the UPFA's candidates in Colombo District at the 2004 parliamentary election and was re-elected. In June 2005, the JVP left the UPFA government. Weerawansha was general-secretary of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM). Weerawansha fell out with the leadership of JVP and was suspended from the party in March 2008, on accusations of corruption, espionage and
extra-marital affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...
s. In May 2008, several
dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...
JVP MPs led by Weerawansa formed the
National Freedom Front The Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) or ''National Freedom Front'' (NFF) is a political party in Sri Lanka was formed by the ten JVP parliamentarians led by Wimal Weerawansa, the breakaway group of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP, started their pol ...
(NFF) (or the Jathika Nidahas Peramuna). The NFF joined the UPFA government in December 2008. Weerawansa was re-elected at the 2010 parliamentary election. He was appointed Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities after the election. He lost his ministerial position following the January 2015 presidential election. He was re-elected at the August 2015 parliamentary election. Weerawansha was appointed as the Minister of Small & Medium Business and Enterprise Development, Industries and Supply chain Management in November 2019 following the 2019 presidential election. Weerawansa was appointed as Minister of Industries in 2020 under
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 ...
, but was later stripped of his ministerial portfolios on 3 March, 2022. On 4 September 2022, after defecting from the ruling
Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance The Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated SLPFA; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පොදුජන සන්ධානය, translit=Śrī Laṃkā Nidahas Podujana Sandhānaya; ta, ஶ்ரீ லங்கா ப ...
, Weerawansa founded the Supreme Lanka Coalition along with seven other small leftist and nationalist parties. In January 2023, the SLC formed the Freedom People's Alliance with the SLFP and the Freedom People's Congress.


Controversies

Weerawansa has been involved in numerous controversies during his career. In 2006 he was accused of sexually harassing a 24-year-old female employee of the state-owned
Lake House Lake House is an Elizabethan architecture, Elizabethan English country house, country house dating from 1578, in Wilsford cum Lake in Wiltshire, England, about seven miles north of Salisbury. It is a Grade I listed building. The gardens are Gra ...
. On 8 July 2010 Weerawansha began a
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
outside the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
office in
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 ...
to protest against the appointment of the Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka by the
Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
. Despite promising to "fast-unto-death" Weerawansha's hunger strike only lasted until 10 July 2010 and was seen as a publicity stunt. In March 2012 Weerawansha called for Sri Lankans to boycott American products such as
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
,
Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...
,
KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
,
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
,
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
and
Gmail Gmail is a free email service provided by Google. As of 2019, it had 1.5 billion active users worldwide. A user typically accesses Gmail in a web browser or the official mobile app. Google also supports the use of email clients via the POP an ...
as a protest against the US government sponsoring a resolution on Sri Lanka at the
United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
. Following the change in government in January 2015 the police started investigating Weerawansha's wife Shashi over allegations that she faked official documents to obtain a diplomatic passport. A panel investigating the activities of the housing ministry during Weerawansha's ministry uncovered financial irregularities and rampant nepotism. Weerawansha was investigated by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) over how several of his relatives obtained government constructed houses at well below market prices. Weerawansha was arrested at
Bandaranaike International Airport Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) ( si, බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Bandāranāyaka Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; ta, பண்டாரநாயக்க ...
on 23 October 2015 due to discrepancies in his passport. After being questioned by the
Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...
, he was produced before Negombo Magistrate's Court and released on
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...
. Weerawana was arrested by the Police Financial Crimes Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) on accusations of misusing government vehicles on 10 January 2017. Weerawansha's bail applications were rejected several times. While he was in custody, Weerawansha started a hunger strike claiming of political revenge by the government. The hunger strike was called off after eight days on requests made by Theras of the Malwathu and Asgiri chapters and fellow politicians. Weerawansha was released on bail on 7 April 2017. Weerawansha has been accused of spreading
communalism Communalism may refer to: * Communalism (Bookchin), a theory of government in which autonomous communities form confederations * , a historical method that follows the development of communities * Communalism (South Asia), violence across ethnic ...
. Weerawansha asked the public to launch a Black Flag protest to oppose the Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
during his visit to Sri Lanka in 2017 May. In October 2017, Weerawansha stated that the parliament should be bombed if a new constitution was  approved by a parliament vote. The Parliament Speaker urged to inquire into Weerawansha's statement. Piyasiri Wijenayake, an NFF member criticized Weerawansha and claimed that the thoughts expressed were Weerawansha's personal views. In May 2022, Weerawansa's wife, Shashi was sentenced to two years in prison after she was found guilty of obtaining passport by submitting false information.


Electoral history


Notes


References


External links


wimalweerawansa.lk Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weerawansha, Wimal 1970 births Colombo municipal councillors Housing ministers of Sri Lanka Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna politicians Jathika Nidahas Peramuna politicians Sinhalese nationalists Living people 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 Members of the Western Provincial Council Sinhalese politicians Sri Lankan Buddhists United People's Freedom Alliance politicians