Wimal Weerawansa

Honourable
Wimal Weerawansa
MP MPC MMC
විමල් වීරවංශ
Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities
In office
April 2010 – 12 January 2015
Preceded by Ferial Ashraff
Succeeded by Sajith Premadasa
Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
for Colombo District
Assumed office
2000
Member of the Western Provincial Council
In office
1999–2000
Member of Colombo Municipal Council
In office
1997–1999
Personal details
Born (1965-03-07) 7 March 1965
Citizenship Sri Lankan
Political party National Freedom Front
Other political
affiliations		 United People's Freedom Alliance
Occupation Politician
Religion Buddhist
Ethnicity Sinhalese
Website wimalweerawansa.lk

Weerasangilige Wimal Weerawansa (born 7 March 1965) is a Sri Lankan politician, Member of Parliament and former government minister. He is the current leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF), a member of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

Early life and family

Weerawansa was born 7 March 1965.[1][2][3][lower-alpha 1] He is the son of Weerasangilige Podineris, a dancing teacher and professional musician, and Wadachcharige Salie.[5] Weerawansa has one brother (Sarath Weerawansa) and three sisters (Weerasangilige Sumanawathie, Chandani Weerawansa and Nilani Weerawansa).[5] Weerawansa was educated at Tissa Central College in Kalutara where he played for the school cricket team.[7][8] Weerawansa passed eight GCE O levels and started studying GCE A level but was expelled for not attending classes.[5]

Weerawansa is married to Ranasinghe Mudiyanselage Shirsha Udayanthi (Sashi).[5] They have a son (Wibhuthi Wishwajith Weerawansa) and a daughter (Wimasha Wishwadari).[5]

Career

Weerawansa joined the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) during its second insurrection and wrote articles in Lakdiva and Hiru, pro-JVP periodicals.[5][9] He was known by various aliases including Wimalasiri Gamlath and Wanshanatha.[5] He was president of the Peoples' Movement for Freedom (Nidahasa Udesa Janatha Viyaparaya), propaganda secretary and politburo member of the JVP.[5] In his early political years Weerawansa was only influenced by socialism and disliked nationalism as much as capitalism.[9] He even accused the ultra-nationalist National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT) of organising a coup d'état.[9] However, as time went by, Weerawansa's and the JVP's attention moved away from Marxism and towards Sinhalese nationalism.[9]

Weerawansa was one of the Sri Lanka Progressive Front (a JVP front) candidates in Colombo District at the 1994 parliamentary election but the SLPF failed to win any seats in the district.[5][10] He contested the 1997 local government election as a JVP candidate and was elected to Colombo Municipal Council.[5][11][12] He contested the 1999 provincial council election as one of the JVP's candidates in Colombo District, and as the JVP's chief minister candidate, but failed to get elected.[5][13][14] The JVP nevertheless appointed Weerawansa to the Western Provincial Council.[5][15] Weerawansa contested the 2000 parliamentary election as one of the JVP's candidates in Colombo District. He was elected and entered Parliament.[16] He was re-elected at the 2001 parliamentary election.[17]

Weerawansa played key roles in the JVP's opposition to President Chandrika Kumaratunga's devolution plans and the Norwegian facilitated peace talk with the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.[9] On 20 January 2004 the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the JVP formed the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).[18] Weerawansa was one of the UPFA's candidates in Colombo District at the 2004 parliamentary election and was re-elected.[19] In June 2005 the JVP left the UPFA government.[20][21] Weerawansa was general-secretary of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM).[9][22][23]

Weerawansa fell out with the leadership of the JVP and was suspended from the party in March 2008, accused of corruption, espionage and extra-marital affairs.[9][22][24][25] In May 2008 several dissident JVP MPs led by Weerawansa formed the National Freedom Front (NFF) (Jathika Nidahas Peramuna).[26][27][28] The NFF joined the UPFA government in December 2008.[29] Weerawansa was re-elected at the 2010 parliamentary election.[30] He was appointed Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities after the election.[31][32] He lost his ministerial position following the 2015 presidential election. He was re-elected at the 2015 parliamentary election.[33][34]

Controversies

Weerawansa has been involved in numerous controversies during his career. In 2006 he was accused of sexually harassing a 24-year-old female employee of the state-owned Lake House.[35] On 8 July 2010 Weerawansa began a hunger strike outside the United Nations office in Colombo to protest against the appointment of the Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon.[36][37] Despite promising to "fast-unto-death" Weerawansa's hunger strike only lasted until 10 July 2010 and was seen as a publicity stunt.[38][39][40] In March 2012 Weerawansa called for Sri Lankans to boycott American products such as Coca Cola, Pepsi, KFC, McDonald's, Google and Gmail as a protest against the US government sponsoring a resolution on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council.[41][42][43]

Following the change in government in January 2015 the police started investigating Weerawansa's wife Shashi over allegations that she faked official documents to obtain a diplomatic passport.[44][45] A panel investigating the activities of the housing ministry during Weerawansa's ministry uncovered financial irregularities and rampant nepotism.[46] Weerawansa was investigated by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) over how several of his relatives obtained government constructed houses at well below market prices.[47][48] Weerawansa was arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport on 23 October 2015 due to discrepancies in his passport.[49][50] After being questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department, he was produced before Negombo Magistrate's Court and released on bail.[51][52]

Weerawansa has been accused of spreading communalism.[53][54]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Wimal Weerawansa
Election Constituency Party Votes Result
1994 parliamentary[5] Colombo District SLPF 302 Not elected
1997 local[5] Colombo MC JVP Elected
1999 provincial[5] Colombo District JVP Not elected
2000 parliamentary[16] Colombo District JVP 13,284 Elected
2001 parliamentary[17] Colombo District JVP 19,687 Elected
2004 parliamentary[19] Colombo District UPFA 237,185 Elected
2010 parliamentary[30] Colombo District UPFA 280,672 Elected
2015 parliamentary[55] Colombo District UPFA 313,801 Elected

Notes

  1. ↑ Weerawansa's date of birth was given as 7 March 1970.[4][5] However, following the 2015 change in government it was revealed that Weerawansa and his wife had altered details, such as their dates of birth, on several official documents and that Weerawansa's actual date of birth was 7 March 1965.[1][2][3][6]

References

  1. 1 2 Gunasekara, Manopriya (23 February 2015). "Wimal also changed DoB: CID". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  2. 1 2 "CID grills Wimal Weerawansa – Submissions made to Court on two identity cards of his wife". Independent Television Network. 23 February 2015.
  3. 1 2 Kannangara, Nirmala (25 January 2015). "The Lives The Weerawansas Enjoy!". The Sunday Leader.
  4. ↑ "Directory of Members: Wimal Weerawansa". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Wimal Weerawansa: A profile". The Sunday Leader. 11 May 2008.
  6. ↑ "Police Say Wimal Also Changed Birthday". Asian Mirror. 24 February 2015.
  7. ↑ Miranda, Sujitha (7 July 2013). "Tissa Central moves along successfully". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  8. ↑ Fernando, Reemus (2 May 2008). "Weerawansa, Jayasuriya and the Battle of the Mangosteens".
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Peebles, Patrick (2015). Historical Dictionary of Sri Lanka. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 383–384. ISBN 978-1-4422-5584-5.
  10. ↑ "Result of parliamentary general election 1994" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  11. ↑ Collure, Shyamal (9 February 1997). "JVP candidates finalised". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  12. ↑ Collure, Shyamal A. (11 May 1997). "Poll reshuffle by JVP". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  13. ↑ Peiris, Roshan (21 February 1999). "JVP to attack PA on all fronts". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  14. ↑ "Spoilt votes tilted balance". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 11 April 1999.
  15. ↑ "Members of the Third Council". Western Provincial Council.
  16. 1 2 "General Election 2000 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  17. 1 2 "General Election 2001 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  18. ↑ "SLFP-JVP alliance signed in Colombo". TamilNet. 20 January 2004.
  19. 1 2 "General Election 2004 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  20. ↑ "JVP leaves coalition Government". TamilNet. 16 June 2005.
  21. ↑ Weerasinghe, Chamikara (17 June 2005). "JVP leaves Govt with regret". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
  22. 1 2 "Weerawansa suspended from JVP politburo". TamilNet. 4 April 2008.
  23. ↑ "'JVP benefited from NGO money'". BBC Sinhala. 18 April 2005.
  24. ↑ "JVP 'suspends' Weerawansa". BBC Sinhala. 4 April 2008.
  25. ↑ "JVP splits in two". BBC Sinhala. 8 April 2008.
  26. ↑ "JVP dissidents form JNP". TamilNet. 12 May 2008.
  27. ↑ "JVP dissidents form new party". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 13 May 2008.
  28. ↑ Abeywickrema, Mandana Ismail (4 May 2008). "Wimal to register new party this month". The Sunday Leader.
  29. ↑ "UPFA looks for strength in alliance with JVP as election fever hots up". The Nation (Sri Lanka). 28 December 2008.
  30. 1 2 "Parliamentary General Election - 2010 Colombo Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  31. ↑ "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1651/3. 26 April 2010.
  32. ↑ "New Cabinet Ministers & Deputy Ministers". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 24 April 2010.
  33. ↑ "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Government Notifications PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ACT, No. 1 OF 1981" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1928/03. 19 August 2015.
  34. ↑ "Ranil tops with over 500,000 votes in Colombo". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 19 August 2015.
  35. ↑ Yapa, Vimukthi (19 November 2006). "Wimal accused of sexual harassment". The Sunday Leader.
  36. ↑ "United Nations closes Sri Lanka mission after protests". The Guardian. Associated Press. 8 July 2010.
  37. ↑ "UN recalls Resident Coordinator from Colombo, closes UNDP". TamilNet. 8 July 2010.
  38. ↑ "Sri Lankan minister ends UN hunger strike protest". BBC News. 10 July 2010.
  39. ↑ "Sri Lankan minister ends fast". The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 11 July 2010.
  40. ↑ "Weerawansa abandons fast unto death after Rajapaksa visit". TamilNet. 10 July 2010.
  41. ↑ "Wimal calls for boycott of US products". The Sunday Leader. Press Trust of India. 13 March 2012.
  42. ↑ "Sri Lankan minister calls for boycott of American products". NDTV. Associated Press. 14 March 2012.
  43. ↑ "SL Minister urges boycott of Google". Tamil Guardian. 13 March 2012.
  44. ↑ "Shashi Weerawansa's passport under CID probe". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 27 January 2015.
  45. ↑ "Wimal Weerawansa's wife arrested". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 23 February 2015.
  46. ↑ Gunaratna, Harischandra (14 May 2015). "Nepotism and financial irregularities in Wimal's ministry". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  47. ↑ Kannangara, Nirmala (14 February 2016). "The Law Continues To Crawl In Weerawansa Saga". The Sunday Leader.
  48. ↑ Rathnakara, Ishara (8 May 2015). "Wimal's house sales probe... Court calls full report". Ceylon Today.
  49. ↑ "Wimal arrested". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 23 October 2015.
  50. ↑ Panchalingam, Ariram (23 October 2015). "MP Weerawansa arrested". News First.
  51. ↑ "Wimal Weerawansa arrested; released on bail". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 23 October 2015.
  52. ↑ Thomas, Kavindya Chris; Weerakoon, Gagani (24 October 2015). "Wimal bailed out - Arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport". Ceylon Today.
  53. ↑ "Weerawansa a sick idiot who spreads communalism – Sarath Wijesuriya". Sri Lanka Guardian. 15 January 2016.
  54. ↑ "Defeated politicos 'stirring ethnic fires' -Puravesi Balaya". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). 1 March 2015.
  55. ↑ Jayakody, Pradeep (28 August 2015). "The Comparison of Preferential Votes in 2015 & 2010". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
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