Senior southern politician takes reins as new Speaker

• Abeywardena began his political career as UNP MP for Hakmana elected in 1993 by-election 
• Was 1 of 2 MPs to vote against 13th Amendment to Constitution
• Served as South PC Chief Minister between ’94-2001
• Deputy Siyambalapitiya seasoned politician from Kegalle District

Senior southern politician Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was unanimously appointed as the 26th Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka yesterday.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena

Yapa Abeywardena who came fifth in the Matara preferential election list in this month’s General Election has been a Parliamentarian since 1983, first entering the Legislature as a UNP MP by winning the by-election held to the Hakmana electorate.

He was one of the two MPs to vote against the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which came about as a result of the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987. He was removed from the UNP for violating party rules and later joined a breakaway faction of the UNP. He joined the SLFP in 2015.

Born on 10 October 1945 in Makandura, Matara, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena received his primary education from Thelijjavila Central College and Rahula College, Matara. He then obtained his first degree from the University of Colombo. He has also received specialised training in Management from the Institute of Management, Chandigarh in India.

He took a hiatus from Parliament from 1993 to 2001, during which time he served in the Southern Provincial Council, including serving as Chief Minister from 1994 to 2001. He has also held a number of Ministries such as Health, Cultural Affairs and National Heritage, Irrigation and Rural Development, Industry and Commerce, Parliamentary Affairs and Agriculture.

Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, who was appointed Deputy Speaker, completed his primary education at Vandala Junior School and later joined Royal College Colombo.

He first entered Parliament in 2004, as a MP for the Kegalle District. In 2005, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Finance and Senior Minister under President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In 2007, he also served as the Minister of Finance and Revenue.

During the 2010 Parliamentary Elections, he was elected to Parliament with the highest number of preferential votes of 146,623 in the Kegalle District. He became the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and the Cabinet Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology. 

After the 2015 election, he served as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, State Ministry of Environment and Cabinet Minister of Power and Renewable Energy. He holds a PhD in Public Administration from the International University of Costa Rica.

Jaffna District SLFP MP Angajan Ramanathan who was appointed the Deputy Chairman of Committees yesterday first entered Parliament from the National List in 2015.

In the 2020 general election, he received the highest number of votes (36,365) in the Jaffna District and was elected to Parliament.