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Sajith Premadasa

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Hon.
Sajith Premadasa
MP
සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස
சஜித் பிரேமதாச
Sajith in 2016
15th Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 January 2020
PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Dinesh Gunawardena
Harini Amarasuriya
Preceded byMahinda Rajapaksa
Leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya
Incumbent
Assumed office
11 February 2020
Preceded byPosition Established
Minister of Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs
In office
20 December 2018 – 17 November 2019
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byWimal Weerawansa
Succeeded byMahinda Rajapaksa
In office
12 January 2015 – 26 October 2018
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byWimal Weerawansa
Succeeded byWimal Weerawansa
Deputy Minister of Health
In office
2001–2004
PresidentChandrika Kumaratunga
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Member of Parliament
for Colombo District
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 August 2020
Majority305,744 Preferential Votes
Member of Parliament
for Hambantota District
In office
18 October 2000 – 3 March 2020
Majority112,645 Preferential Votes
Deputy Leader of the United National Party
In office
2014–2020
Preceded byKaru Jayasuriya
Succeeded byRuwan Wijewardene
In office
2011–2013
Preceded byKaru Jayasuriya
Succeeded byKaru Jayasuriya
Member of Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka)
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 October 2020
PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Dinesh Gunawardena
Personal details
Born (1967-01-12) 12 January 1967 (age 57)
Colombo, Dominion of Ceylon
Political partySamagi Jana Balawegaya (after 2020)
Other political
affiliations		United National Party (before 2020)
Spouse
Jalani
​
(m. 1999)​
Children1
Parent(s)Ranasinghe Premadasa
Hema Premadasa
EducationRoyal College, Colombo
Alma materLondon School of Economics
University of Maryland
ProfessionPolitician
WebsiteOfficial website

Sajith Premadasa (Sinhala: සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස, Tamil: சஜித் பிரேமதாச; born 12 January 1967) is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the current Leader of the Opposition of Sri Lanka and a Member of Parliament for the Colombo District.[1] He is the current leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.[2]

Premadasa is the son of Ranasinghe Premadasa, president of Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1993. He was educated at S. Thomas' Preparatory School, Royal College, Colombo and Mill Hill School before entering the London School of Economics. He was doing his postgraduate studies at the University of Maryland when his father was assassinated in 1993.

Following his father's assassination, he returned to Sri Lanka and entered politics. He was elected to parliament in 2000, representing the Hambantota District as a member the United National Party, his father's party, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Health in 2001, serving until 2004. He was appointed deputy leader of the UNP in 2011 and was appointed Minister of Housing and Samurdhi in President Maithripala Sirisena's cabinet in 2015.

Premadasa contested the 2019 presidential election as the candidate of New Democratic Front, placing second. In December 2019, he was appointed as Leader of the Opposition and a member of the Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka.[3] In 2020, Premadasa split from the UNP to lead his own political party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, and ran in the 2020 parliamentary elections as the leader and prime ministerial candidate of the new alliance.[4][5][6] In 2024, Premadasa ran for president a second time, once again finishing in second place.[7][8]

Early life and education

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Sajith Premadasa was born on 12 January 1967 in Colombo to Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was Minister of Broadcasting and a Member of Parliament from the Colombo District at the time, and his wife Hema Premadasa. He had one sister, Dulanjali. His father was elected as the President of Sri Lanka in 1988, having served as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1989.

Premadasa was schooled at S. Thomas' Preparatory School and Royal College, he sat for his ordinary (O/L) and advanced level (A/L) examination at Mill Hill School, London. Premadasa won the A/L prize for politics and business studies and besides being appointed a prefect, also played in the first 11 cricket team for four years, captaining the side in 1986.[citation needed] A graduate of the London School of Economics (LSE) and the University of London, his degree covered the areas of economics, politics and international relations.[9] He interned in the Foreign Relations Committee under US Senator Larry Pressler, a Republican from South Dakota. Premadasa met many other influential senators, including John McCain and 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry.[10] Whilst completing his master's degree in the United States at the University of Maryland, College Park,[where?] he returned to Sri Lanka following his father's assassination.[citation needed]

Political career

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Premadasa entered Sri Lankan politics following the assassination of his father in 1993. Having joined his father's party, the United National Party, he was appointed district organiser of the UNP for the Hambantota District in 1994, where he launched several projects for poverty alleviation and housing development. He initiated the youth movement Tharuna Saviya, the People Development Foundation Jana Suwaya for poverty alleviation in Hambantota, and the Sasunata Aruna to aid Buddhist temples[11] and Sunday schools in line with the 2600 Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi celebrations.

Parliament (2000–2019)

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In the 2000 general election, Premadasa contested from the Hambantota district. He was elected and entered parliament, gaining 83% of the UNP preferential votes. He won 82% of the preferential votes in the 2001 general election, 84% in the 2004 general election, 89% in the 2010 general election and 86% in the 2015 general election.[12][13]

He was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Health under the premiership of Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2001 and remained until 2004 when the Wickremesinghe government was dissolved by President Chandrika Kumaratunga.[9]

For the fourth general election in a row in 2010, Premadasa won the highest percentage of preferential votes out of all UNP candidates, which was just under 90% of all United National Party votes in the Hambantota Electoral District.[13] Premadasa was elected as the deputy leader of the United National Party in 2011, but was removed from the position in 2013. He was later reappointed on 24 September 2014.[14]

Minister of Housing and Samurdhi

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Following the 2015 presidential election, Premadasa was appointed Minister of Housing and Samurdhi in the new cabinet formed in January 2015 by President Maithripala Sirisena.[15] As housing minister, Premadasa initiated several national housing projects for lower and middle-income families. These include Gamudawa, Jalthara Green Valley apartments, and Mount Clifford, Homagama. As Samurdhi minister, he increased the Samurdhi payment by twofold. With the addition of construction to his portfolio, he initiated the Shelter For All 2025 objective and provided over 65,000 houses to low-income families and initiated 2500 villages.[16][9]

2019 presidential election

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Sajith awaits to greet Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in 2017

The United National Party did not field a presidential candidate in both the 2010 and 2015 elections and instead endorsed a common candidate.[17] Even though they won the 2015 election and elected Maithripala Sirisena through their support, relations between the president and the UNP had been shaky from the beginning. The power struggle between the president and UNP prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe led to the 2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis.[18] In the aftermath of the events, most of the UNP members publicly expressed their regret for supporting a common candidate in 2015 and promised to field their own presidential candidate in the 2019 elections.[19]

UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was the obvious choice for the candidacy and he reportedly expressed his intentions to run for the presidency in a meeting with other senior members. Meanwhile, several rebel MPs including Mangala Samaraweera, Harin Fernando, Ajith Perera, Harsha de Silva, Sujeewa Senasinghe wanted deputy leader Premadasa as the party's candidate and organised a rally in Badulla where Premadasa openly expressed his intentions to be the UNP candidate.[20]

With the growing support for Premadasa and party leader Wickremesinghe refusing to make a move, Speaker of the parliament Karu Jayasuriya released a statement signaling his intention to run for presidency to end the confusion and avoid a rift within the party.[21] The Premadasa faction gained strong support from fellow party members through successful rallies in Matara,[22] Kurunegala[23] and Matugama.[24] Eventually, Premadasa was picked as the UNP's candidate for the election.

Premadasa was defeated by SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who campaigned on a pro-nationalistic, economic development and national security platform. Rajapaksa received 6,924,255 votes (52.25% of the total votes) and a 1,360,016 vote majority over Premadasa, who polled 41.99% of the total votes. Rajapaksa won a majority in the predominantly Sinhalese areas of the island. At the same time, Premadasa gained a majority in areas dominated by Tamil and Muslim minorities, whom had been greatly affected by the country's civil war.[25] Following the election, Premadasa stepped down from all ministerial portfolios and posts, including the post of Deputy Leader of the United National Party.[26]

Leader of the Opposition (2019–present)

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On 5 December 2019, he was nominated as the leader of the opposition and was officially named by the speaker on 3 January 2020.[27][28] With his appointment as Leader of Opposition, he was automatically given a seat as a Member of Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka).

2020 parliamentary election and split from the UNP

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Premadasa was selected by his party as the prime ministerial candidate of the UNP on 30 January 2020. He was named the leader of the alliance after a majority of party front liners backed him over UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.[29][4][30] He was appointed as the leader of the newly formed Samagi Jana Balawegaya led by the United National Party to contest in the 2020 parliamentary elections.

2022 Sri Lankan political crisis

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Premadasa refused an invitation by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to accept the premiership during the 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis.[31] Following the resignation of Rajapaksa, he initially announced to run as a candidate for president in the indirect presidential election.[32] However, the day before the election, he withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Dullas Alahapperuma.[33]

2024 presidential election

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Premadasa contested the 2024 presidential election as the candidate of Samagi Jana Balawegaya,[7] against his former leader and incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of National People’s Power.[34]

Premadasa came second behind Dissanayake with 4,363,035 (32.76%) votes in the first count of votes. Since no candidate was able to secure a majority, a second count of preferential votes was held between Dissanayake and Premadasa. However, despite gaining 167,867 additional preference votes, Premadasa trailed behind Dissanayake, who won the election with 5,740,179 (55.89%) votes at the end of the second vote count. Premadasa remained in 2nd with 4,530,902 (44.11%) votes, thus losing his second bid for presidency.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sajith Premadasa Appointed As Sri Lanka Opposition Leader". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  2. ^ Bandara, Kelum Bandara (12 February 2020). "Premadasa-faction forms Samagi Jana Balawegaya". dailymirror.lk. Wijeya Newspapers. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  3. ^ "New Cabinet Ministers sworn in". adaderana.lk. Ada Derana. 20 December 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b "UNP names Sajith as PM candidate, Sajith to lead new alliance". 30 January 2020. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Parliamentary General Election 2020 Results - Adaderana". Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Sajith invites UNP MPs to join SJB". www.dailymirror.lk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Sajith Premadasa named as SJB Presidential Candidate". Newswire. 16 May 2023. named-sjb-presidential-candidate/ Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2024. {{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)
  8. ^ a b "Presidential Election 2024 Results -Adaderana". election.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "About Sajith Premadasa". 19 May 2021. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Book on Sajith Premadasa out next month". Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Over 1000 Buddhist temples to be built under "sasunata aruna"". 15 September 2018. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  12. ^ "General Election 2015 : Hambantota district preferential votes announced". 18 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  13. ^ a b "PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS RESULTS". Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Sajith Premadasa appointed UNP deputy leader". Archived from the original on 13 October 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  15. ^ "Ministry of Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs". Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Min. Sajith Premadasa attends event to distribute funds". 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  17. ^ "UNP presidential candidate". Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Sri Lankan democracy under threat – Ranil Wick". 3 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Sajith Premadasa urge President to resolve the constitutional crisis". 29 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  20. ^ "Sajith Premadasa stakes claim for Sri Lanka UNP candidacy". EconomyNext. 13 August 2019. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  21. ^ "Karu Jayasuriya : PM's new pawn to secure his seat as the Opposition Leader in 2020 - Sri Lanka Latest News". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 17 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  22. ^ "Sri Lanka : UNP Deputy Leader avows to 'definitely contest' presidential election at Matara Rally". www.colombopage.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  23. ^ "Sajith's Kurunegala rally draws mammoth crowd". Sunday Observer. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  24. ^ "Sajith Premadasa's Controversial Speech At Mathugama Rally Causes Ripples Among Working Committee Members Ahead Of Crucial Meeting". www.asianmirror.lk. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  25. ^ "Sri Lankan Tamils Prefer Sajith Premadasa To Lead Main Opposition". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  26. ^ "Sajith Premadasa steps down as UNP Deputy Leader - Sri Lanka Latest News". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 17 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  27. ^ "UNP decides to nominate Sajith as Opposition Leader". Colombo Gazette. 5 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  28. ^ Srinivasan, Meera (5 December 2019). "Sajith Premadasa named Opposition leader in Sri Lanka". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  29. ^ "Sajith named leader of UNP-led alliance and PM candidate | ONLANKA News - Sri Lanka". 30 January 2020. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  30. ^ "Sri Lanka : UNF leaders decide to form a new alliance with Sajith as the leader". Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  31. ^ "Sajith declines President's invitation to be PM". Newswire. 8 May 2022. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  32. ^ "The AP Interview: Sri Lanka candidate sees tough work ahead". AP News. 16 July 2022. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  33. ^ "Sajith Premadasa withdraws his candidacy from Sri Lanka presidential election". The Indian Express. 19 July 2022. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  34. ^ "EC accepts of all 39 presidential candidates". 15 August 2024. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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Political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition
2019–Present 		Incumbent
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