Vraîe Cally Balthazaar (born 9 April 1985) is a Sri Lankan

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, media personality,

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and

researcher Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

serving as

Mayor of Colombo The Mayor of Colombo is the elected 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 Munic ...

since 16 June 2025. She is a member of the

National People's Power The National People's Power (NPP), known in Sinhala language, Sinhala as Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB), is a left-wing politics, left-wing Electoral alliance, political alliance in Sri Lanka. It is the current ruling party of Government of Sri ...

and is the second woman to hold the office, after Rosy Senanayake.

Early life and education

Balthazaar was born in 1985 and completed her primary and secondary schooling at Methodist College, Colombo. She earned a bachelor's degree in fashion/apparel design from

Northumbria University Northumbria University (legally the University of Northumbria at Newcastle) is a Public research university, public research university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, North East of England. It has been a university since 199 ...

in 2010. She then received a postgraduate diploma and a Master's degree in Gender and Women's Studies from the

University of Colombo The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...

in 2020.

Career

From 2005 to 2014, Balthazaar spent nearly a decade as a television presenter, notably hosting ''Good Morning Sri Lanka'' on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. Following 2018, she became actively involved in NGOs and research projects focused on women's and children's rights. As a researcher in urban development, her work examined the impact of city planning on low-income communities. She also championed gender equality and labour rights. In 2018, she founded Cally Products, a company creating biodegradable alternatives to single-use polythene and other non-biodegradable products in Sri Lanka.

Politics

In 2021, Balthazaar joined the Socialist Youth Union, affiliated with the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; , PLF) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 JVP ins ...

, which is allied with the NPP. She ran as an NPP candidate during the 2024 parliamentary elections in

Colombo District Colombo District ( ''kol̠am̆ba distrikkaya''; ''Koḻumpu Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a D ...

. She secured 44,633 preferential votes and finished 18th among the party's candidates, narrowly missing a seat. In the local government elections held on 6 May 2025, Balthazaar contested the Thimbirigasyaya ward of 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, and elected 119 municipal councilors. The council was f ...

and was elected with 2,094 votes. Her party, the NPP, won 48 of the 119 council seats, becoming the largest single group.

Mayor of Colombo (2025-present)

Balthazaar announced her candidacy for mayor on 9 March 2025. She campaigned on clean governance, anti-corruption measures, urban reform, improving waste management, and affordable housing. On 16 June 2025, during the Colombo Municipal Council's inaugural session, Balthazaar was elected mayor via secret ballot. While a mayor is typically nominated by the city's majority party, the May elections yielded no party a majority of the votes. Therefore, Balthazaar was nominated by the National People's Power, while Riza Zarook was nominated by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. She received 61 votes, defeating Zarook, who received 54 votes (with two ballots rejected).Farzan, Zulfick (16 June 2025)
"Vraîe Cally Balthazaar Elected Colombo Mayor"
NewsFirst. Retrieved on 16 June 2025. She is the second woman to hold the position, after her predecessor Rosy Senanayake (2018–2023), and leads Colombo under the NPP- JVP alliance, marking the city's first left-wing governance since N.M. Perera (1954–1956).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balthazaar, Vraie Living people 1985 births Mayors of Colombo 21st-century Sri Lankan women politicians Sri Lankan television presenters Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna politicians National People's Power politicians Alumni of Methodist College, Colombo Women mayors of places in Sri Lanka