85th birthday commemoration of former Speaker Sri Lankabhimanya Karu Jayasuriya

Sri Lankabhimanya Karu Jayasuriya

There are no personal festivities except for religious observances. Instead, the day is devoted entirely to social service activities such as community service, paying tribute to war heroes, and providing facilities to strengthen educational opportunities for future generations. For the past several years, Karu Jayasuriya has celebrated his birthday by awarding Sinhala language proficiency certificates to about 400 Tamil students in Jaffna, following six months of intensive training. He has always made it a point to travel to Jaffna by train for this purpose, deriving great personal satisfaction from these efforts. Similarly, in the Gampaha area, Sinhala students have been awarded Tamil language proficiency certificates.

The most significant and inspiring aspect of this program is the student exchange initiative, where Sinhala students from the South travel to the North and stay with Tamil families, while Tamil students from the North visit the South and live with Sinhala families. This cultural exchange has created a genuine sense of brotherhood and mutual understanding, fostering harmony and strengthening national unity by allowing young people to learn and experience each other’s traditions and lifestyles.

Legacy that reflects enduring commitment to humanity

From his childhood, Jayasuriya displayed a deep interest in religion and the Dhamma. His education at Ananda College, together with his association with nationalist figures such as L.H. Mettananda, shaped his religious and cultural orientation from an early age. Between 1965 and 1972, he served as a disciplined military officer in several camps. During the 1971 youth unrest, while serving as Officer-in-Charge of the Nuwara Eliya Sinha Regiment Camp, he ensured that no young life was harmed under his command. Through his intervention and support, many young people were instead guided towards rehabilitation and reintegration, a legacy that reflects his enduring commitment to humanity and national reconciliation.

From 1972 to 1992, Karu Jayasuriya held senior positions in the private sector, serving as Director, Managing Director, and Chairman of 52 major local and international companies. In 1978, President J.R. Jayewardene appointed him to the Presidential Commission on Privatisation. Among his many contributions, he transformed the Korea Ceylon Footwear Company—established under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) concept of President Jayewardene—into a model enterprise. This project became a benchmark for Asia, even attracting the attention of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his wife, who visited Sri Lanka to study the concept. The success of this initiative reached China as well, when Deng Xiaoping sent Xiang Zemin as his special representative to examine the Sri Lankan model, which was subsequently adopted in China. Xiang Zemin later rose to the presidency of that country. Though little known in Sri Lanka, this achievement remains documented in China.

Building bridges between Govt. and private sector

During the youth unrest of 1989, as well as in the foreign exchange crisis of 2021–2022, Sri Lanka faced IMF conditions that included privatisation. In 1990, Jayasuriya led the country’s first privatisation effort, which met with strong opposition from certain political groups. The threats he faced at the time were so severe that he was forced to send his two children, then aged 11 and 13, abroad for their safety—a sacrifice that both he and Mrs. Jayasuriya deeply regret, as it deprived them of their children’s formative years. Nevertheless, his role in building bridges between the Government and the private sector was widely recognised. 

President Ranasinghe Premadasa often relied on him for advice, and the two held discussions as frequently as three or four times a month, often beginning at 4:30 in the morning. At President Premadasa’s request, Jayasuriya also organised EXPO 92, Sri Lanka’s most successful international export exhibition, which drew 5,600 foreign buyers.

In 1993, at the strong request of President Premadasa, he accepted the position of Ambassador to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, resigning from all his private-sector positions to dedicate himself fully to his diplomatic responsibilities. During his 18-month tenure, relations between Sri Lanka and Germany advanced significantly, and to this day he is remembered in Germany with high regard.

After the UNP suffered a setback in the 1994 parliamentary elections, Ranil Wickremesinghe assumed party leadership and sought to bring new faces into the party. Initially reluctant to enter active politics, Jayasuriya eventually accepted the position of Chairman of the UNP in 1995, on the recommendation of A.C.H. Hameed. The following year, when the Colombo Mayor defected to the Government, the party requested him to contest for the post of Mayor of Colombo. Accepting on the condition that he would serve for only 18 months, he transformed the Colombo Municipal Council, which had been in a state of disarray. 

Privatisation of solid waste management

His most notable reform was the privatisation of solid waste management, modelled on the London City Council, and implemented with the unanimous consent of all councillors. As a result, Colombo was named the cleanest city in South Asia and one of the most efficiently managed cities in Asia by the Asian Development Bank, while Jayasuriya himself was recognised as the most creative Mayor in Asia.

In 1998, he contested the Western Provincial Council elections, narrowly losing by 3,800 votes but becoming the Leader of the Opposition. His proposal to relocate the solid waste yard to Meepe met with stiff resistance from several electorates, sparking a political backlash. Days before the election, then Indian High Commissioner Shankar Menon personally informed him of an LTTE plot to assassinate him, based on intelligence from Prabhakaran. On security advice, his campaign was cut short. This was later confirmed by Karuna Amman, who at the time was a senior LTTE commander. Despite these challenges, he continued to rise in the UNP, eventually becoming its Deputy Leader, and in 1999, he entered Parliament from his home district of Gampaha.

After the 2001 elections, he was appointed Minister of Power and Energy at a time when the country was suffering 14-hour daily power cuts. He pledged to resolve the crisis within 180 days or step down. With the dedication of his staff, electricity was restored nationwide without cuts on the 159th day, a feat that remains one of his hallmark achievements. In 2003, as Chairman of the National Health Board, he introduced diploma and postgraduate programs in Nursing and Physiotherapy at three universities to meet global demand for such skills. That same year, he personally introduced the Right to Information Bill, though it was only passed into law in 2015. He also initiated early steps for a Patients’ Rights Bill in 2003, which, though delayed, is now nearing implementation.

Behind-the-scenes role

In 2013, he played a significant behind-the-scenes role in the campaign led by Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero to abolish the executive presidency. Although he was proposed as the common Opposition candidate for the 2015 Presidential election, he declined, insisting that his candidacy must be formally endorsed by Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa to avoid dividing the UNP. He further stipulated that Parliament should be dissolved within 100 days of victory, the executive presidency abolished within 180 days, and that he would retire from politics afterward. At the age of 75, both he and Mrs. Jayasuriya hoped to spend their later years quietly with their children.

Following the 2015 election, he resigned from UNP membership and served as Speaker of Parliament as an independent MP, in line with the British parliamentary tradition. From 2015 to 2020, he oversaw major reforms in the legislature. He pioneered the concept of “Parliamentary Diplomacy” to strengthen inter-parliamentary relations, which was endorsed by SAARC and later recognised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2018. Under his leadership, parliamentarians engaged in exchange programs and study tours worldwide, with costs borne by host countries rather than Sri Lankan public funds.

He modernised the functioning of Parliament by introducing electronic voting, providing each MP with a personal computer, establishing sectoral oversight committees, and opening COPE and Finance Committee proceedings to the media moves that created greater accountability and transparency. Over one million parliamentary records dating back to the 1800s were digitised, a modern media system was introduced, and a new department was established to educate school children on parliamentary traditions. Through his efforts, parliamentary staff welfare was also strengthened, with scholarships and overseas education opportunities secured for their children.Even after stepping down as Speaker, he has remained committed to fostering a new political culture. With his initiative, the IDAG and BALPP political academies have launched training programs on parliamentary governance for new MPs and on local governance for newly elected local Government representatives. These programs, provided as scholarships, aim to build a more conscious and responsible political culture in Sri Lanka for the future.