1. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was a Sri Lankan politician who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2010, and served as the Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2002.
21 Facts About Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
1. 2.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was a Member of Parliament representing the Horana electorate and later the Kalutara District.
3.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was educated in Millewa Primary School, Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya, Hartley College, Point Pedro and Ananda College, Colombo and later as a student joined Lincoln's Inn to become a Barrister of Law, but ultimately chose to enter politics rather than appear for the exam.
4.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was elected to the legislature in 1960, from Horana for the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.
5.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was re-elected twice to the legislature for Horana from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
6.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake received his first ministerial appointment in 1970, when he was appointed Deputy Minister for Justice in the United Front government under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
7.
In 1975, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was appointed Minister of Plantation Industries and the next year was Minister of Justice.
8.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake lost his Parliamentary seat in the landslide defeat of the SLFP in the general elections of 1977.
9.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake became General Secretary of the SLFP in 1978.
10.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake first served as Prime Minister from August 2000 to December 2001, succeeding Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who resigned from the position at the age of 84.
11.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was sworn into office on 13 October 2000.
12.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake escaped an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber during the 2001 election.
13.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake lost his premiership role in December 2001 when his party lost to the opposition party, United National Party, by taking 109 of the 225 Parliament seats.
14.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was the senior vice-president of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
15.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was sworn in for a second time as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 21 November 2005.
16.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake's son Vidura Wickremanayake is a Member of Parliament.
17.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake called for Sri Lanka's family planning policies to be modified, to encourage people to have more children.
18.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake opposed the present ceasefire arrangements at the time they were put in place.
19.
On 21 December 2016, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was admitted to a private hospital in Colombo.
20.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake died on 27 December 2016 at the age of 83 due to an unspecified illness.
21.
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was serving as the Senior Advisor to President Maithripala Sirisena at the time of his death.