Pramitha Tennakoon

Hon.
Premitha Tennakoon
MP
ප්‍රමිත තෙන්නකෝන්
பிரமித பண்டார தென்னக்கோன்
Minister of State for Defence
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 September 2022
PresidentRanil Wickramasinghe
Prime MinisterDinesh Gunawardena
Minister of Ports and Shipping
In office
18 April 2022 – 9 May 2022
PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa
Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded byRohitha Abeygunawardena
Succeeded byNimal Siripala de Silva
Member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Incumbent
Assumed office
2020
ConstituencyMatale District
Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs, Women's Affairs and Rural Industries Development Central Provincial Council
In office
2013–2018
Council Member Central Provincial Council
In office
2009–2018
ConstituencyMatale District
Personal details
Born
Premitha Bandara Tennakoon

(1978-09-11) 11 September 1978 (age 46)
Political partySri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
Other political
affiliations		SLPFA
Alma materUniversity of Buckingham
La Trobe University

Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon (Sinhala: ප්‍රමිත බණ්ඩාර තෙන්නකෝන්; born 11 September 1978) is a Sri Lankan politician, former Cabinet Minister, former provincial minister and Member of Parliament.[1] He served as the Minister of Ports and Shipping in the Cabinet of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.[2]

Tennakoon was born on 11 September 1978.[1] He is the son of Janaka Bandara Tennakoon and grandson of T. B. Tennekoon, both government ministers.[3] He was educated at St. Peter's College, Colombo.[4] He has a LLB degree from the University of Buckingham and LLM degree from La Trobe University.[4] He was member of the diplomatic staff the Sri Lankan embassy in Cairo, Egypt.[4]

Tennakoon was a member of the Central Provincial Council and Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs, Women's Affairs and Rural Industries Development for the Central Province.[5][6] He contested the 2020 parliamentary election as a Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance electoral alliance candidate in Matale District and was elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka.[7][8][9]

Following the mass resignation of the Sri Lankan cabinet in the wake of the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, he was appointed as the Minister of Ports and Shipping by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 18 April 2022.[10] He served until 9 May 2022 following another mass resignation of the Sri Lankan cabinet.[11]

Electoral history of Pramitha Tennakoon
Election Constituency Party Alliance Votes Result
2009 provincial[12] Matale District United People's Freedom Alliance 49,665 Elected
2013 provincial[13] Matale District United People's Freedom Alliance 51,591 Elected
2020 parliamentary[8] Matale District Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance 67,776 Elected
  1. ^ a b "Directory of Members: Pramitha Bandara Thennakoon". Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka: Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  2. ^ "President appoints 17 new Cabinet ministers". Ada Derana.lk. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  3. ^ "All in the family – father and son duos". The Sunday Times. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Get to know your new parliamentarians". The Sunday Times. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  5. ^ Dias, Keshala (25 April 2017). "Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon steps down from post in protest". News First. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Thilina Bandara Tennakoon replaces Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon". Daily News. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  7. ^ "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. No. 2187/26. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 8 August 2020. p. 4A. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Matale district; Janaka Bandara tops". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  9. ^ Parasuraman, Lakshme (9 August 2020). "Over 60 new faces in Parliament". Sunday Observer. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  10. ^ Krishnasai, C. (18 April 2022). "Sri Lankan president appoints 17 cabinet ministers amid calls for govt ouster". WION News. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Mahinda Rajapaksa resigns as Prime Minister". Ada Derana. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022. The PM's departure also results in the dissolution of the Cabinet.
  12. ^ "Preferences Matale" (PDF). Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka: Department of Elections. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2010.
  13. ^ Keerthiratna, Mahesh (22 September 2013). "Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon tops in Matale". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 13 August 2020.