Harini Amarasuriya
Harini Amarasuriya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| හරිනි අමරසූරිය ஹரிணி அமரசூரிய | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 16th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 24 September 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Anura Kumara Dissanayake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Dinesh Gunawardena | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament for National List | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 20 August 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 6 March 1970 Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (2020 - present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Harini Amarasuriya[a] (born 6 March 1970) is a Sri Lankan academic, activist, and politician who is currently the 16th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, serving with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake since 2024. A member of the National People's Power, she also holds the portfolios of Minister of Justice, Minister of Education, Minister of Labour, Minister of Industries, Minister of Science and Technology, Minister of Health and Minister of Investments since 2024. Amarasuriya has been a National List Member of Parliament for National People's Power since 2020. She was previously a senior lecturer at the Department of Social Studies of the Open University of Sri Lanka.
She is ideologically on the centre-left of the National People's Power, and considers herself to be a Liberal. Amarasuriya is well known for her research on youth unemployment, feminism, gender inequality, child protection and inefficiencies in Sri Lankan education system.[1] She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sri Lankan non-governmental organisation Nest.[2] She is the third female Prime Minister of Sri Lanka after Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Early life and career
[edit]Amarasuriya holds a PhD degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh. She has also published books and conducted research on youth, politics, dissent, activism, gender, development, state-society relations, child protection, globalisation and development.[3][4] 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.
She is also an activist, becoming a member of the Federation of University Teachers' Association and joining protests demanding for free education.[5] She has advocated for gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights,[6][7] and is part of the Parliamentary Caucus for Animal Welfare.[8]
Politics
[edit]Amarasuriya joined the National Intellectuals Organization in 2019 and campaigned for the NPP Candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake during the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election. 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 following the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election.[9][10][11]
Confusion and concerns were raised about whether she could continue her service as an academic senior lecturer at the Open University after being nominated as a national list candidate.[12] 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.[citation needed]
Prime Minister (2024-present)
[edit]On 24 September 2024, Amarasuriya was sworn-in as the sixteenth Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.[13] She is the first prime minister of her party, and the third female to hold the role after Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga.[14]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Interview - Harini Amarasuriya". E-International Relations. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ "Harini Amarasuriya". Youthpolicy.org. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ "Dr Harini Amarasuriya | IASH". www.iash.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ "Who is Dr. Harini Amarasuriya ? NPP national list nominee". NewsWire. 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ "Cyber bullying prevents women from public positions - Harini Amarasuriya". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ (25 June 2024). "NPP will back bill to decriminalise same-sex relationships - Harini Amarasuriya". Ada Derana. Retrieved on 24 September 2024.
- ^ 30 July 2022. "Better Together | Episode 02 | Harini Amarasuriya". Daily Mirror Online, via YouTube. Retrieved on 24 September 2024.
- ^ Parliamentary Caucus for Animal Welfare - The Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved on 24 September 2024.
- ^ "Rights activist and academic Dr Harini Amarasuriya is the NPP National List nominee". EconomyNext. 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2020-08-12.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Dr. Harini Amarasuriya named as JJB National List MP". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ tharindu. "හරිනි අමරසූරිය මාලිමාවේ ජාතික ලැයිස්තු මන්ත්රී ධුරයට". sinhala.srilankamirror.com. Archived from the original on 2021-09-07. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ "NPP National List slot: Dr. Harini Amarasuriya's name proposed". www.themorning.lk. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ Jamkhandikar, Shilpa (24 Septemeber 2024). "Sri Lanka President Dissanayake picks Harini Amarasuriya as PM". Reuters. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- ^ "Former academic named Sri Lanka's third female prime minister". BBC. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
External links
[edit]- Harini Amarasuriya, Parliament directory of members
- Harini Amarasuriya publications indexed by Google Scholar
- 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 people
- Sri Lankan academics
- Sinhalese activists
- Sri Lankan human rights activists
- Sri Lankan women academics
- Sri Lankan women activists
- Women legislators in Sri Lanka
- 1970 births
- Prime ministers of Sri Lanka