Hindu College Alumni Harini Amarasuriya appointed 16th Sri Lankan PM

Mrs Harini Amarasuriya, who graduated from Hindu College, Delhi University, was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on 24 September 2024. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as the 9th President of Sri Lanka on 22 September after he emerged victorious in the recently held Sri Lankan Presidential Poll.

Mrs.Harini Amarasuriya succeeds Dinesh Gunawardena, who resigned after the previous President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, lost the Presidential election.

According to the 1978 Sri Lankan constitution, the executive power of the government is vested in the President, who is directly elected by the people. The Sri Lankan President appoints the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. 

The Prime Minister and the council of ministers must be the members of the Sri Lankan Parliament. 

16th Prime Minister  of Sri Lanka 

Mrs Harini Amarasuriya is Sri Lanka's 16th Prime Minister. She is a member of the ruling National People’s Power alliance, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

She is also the third woman to be appointed as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka after  Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga. 

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, appointed in 1960, was the first female Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and the world.

Mrs Harini Amarasuriya has also been allotted the portfolios of Justice, Industries, Science and Technology, Health, and Investment.

About Mrs Harini Amarasuriya India’s connection 

54-year-old Mrs Harini Amarasuriya was a Hindu College, Delhi University student from 1991 to 1994. She graduated in Sociology from Delhi University.

Later, she became a University lecturer in Sri Lanka. She is the first academic-turned-politician to become the prime minister of Sri Lanka.

She was first elected to the Sri Lankan Parliament in 2020.

New Parliamentary election in Sri Lanka 

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dissolved the Sri Lankan Parliament on 24 September, and a fresh Parliamentary election is to be held on 14 November 2024. 

The dissolved Parliament was constituted in 2020 with a five-year term.  President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s National People Party alliance had only three seats in the 225-member Sri Lankan parliament.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has promised reforms in Sri Lanka and is seeking the people’s mandate to carry them out. This was the main reason for the president's premature dissolution of the parliament.

Sri Lanka has a 225-member unicameral parliament with a term of five years.