Ex-Army Chief joins SJB

Former Army Commander General 

R.M. Daya Ratnayake (left) with SJB leader

Sajith Premadasa

Former Army Commander General R.M. Daya Ratnayake met with Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday and extended his support to the main opposition party. 

Ratnayake served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army from 2013 to 2015. 

Following his retirement from the army, he served as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Secretary to the Ministry of Industries under the Government of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 

The party announced that Premadasa has now appointed Ratnayake as a senior advisor to the SJB on State affairs. 

Ratnayake, an alum of Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala, commenced his military journey as an officer cadet in 1980. He received his commission as a second lieutenant in 1981 in the Sri Lanka Light Infantry. During the armed conflict, he held significant roles in the operations for the Liberation of Vakare and Thoppigala. On 1 August 2013, he assumed the position of the 20th Commander of the Sri Lanka Army.