Vasantha Senanayake

Hon.
Vasantha Senanayake
MP
Member of Parliament
for Polonnaruwa District
In office
1 September 2015 – 3 March 2020
State Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
29 May 2019 – 10 October 2019
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Minister of Tourism and Wild Life
In office
29 October 2018 – 15 December 2018
State Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
31 May 2017 – 26 October 2018
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
State Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management
In office
9 September 2015 – 31 May 2017
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Deputy Minister of Tourism and Sports
In office
12 January 2015 – 17 August 2015
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Member of Parliament
for Gampaha District
In office
2010–2015
Personal details
Born (1973-06-28) June 28, 1973 (age 51)
Alma materS.Thomas' Preparatory school- Kollupitiya

Vasantha Senanayake (born 28 June 1973) is a Sri Lankan politician who was a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He belongs to the United National Party.[1][2] He is a great-grandson of D. S. Senanayake (Sri Lanka's "Father of the Nation") and cousin of Ruwan Wijewardene.[3]

Senanayake was appointed State Minister of Foreign Affairs in the United National Party led national government on May 31, 2017. He was the State Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management from 2015 to 2017. He was the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Sports in the United National Party 100 days government. Senanayake served as acting Foreign Minister when the Minister Ravi Karunanayake resigned on 10 August 2017.[4][5] Vasantha Senanayake as state minister foreign affairs developed a close friendship with Lord Naseby of the UK House of Lords and supported vociferously the English Peer's condemnation of the characterization of the war and the Sri Lankan military.[6]

During the 2018 Sri Lanka constitutional crisis, Senanayake, a Member of Parliament elected on the United National Party's Polonnaruwa District ticket in 2015,[7] switched his alliance on multiple occasions between the two political parties that were battling for power. Initially he pledged his support for Mahinda Rajapaksa[8] who appointed him as Minister of Tourism and Wildlife after controversially dismissing prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.[9] Senanayake then returned his alliance to the United National Party, announcing his resignation from his ministerial portfolio,[10][11][12] but later supported Rajapaksa again.[13] This turbulence which Senanayake faced in his second term in Parliament moving between the UNP, the party of his ancestors and the Rajapakse camp may be attributed to his dilemma. Which can be attributed to him of wanting to belong to the ‘Old UNP’ but fiercely attempting to resist and depose its present occupant and leader of four decades Ranil Wickremasinghe.[14] Wickremasinghe remains in office today after leading the UNP to its worst ever defeat in which the party secured no elected seats and Wickremasinghe scrambled in on a single National List seat the party had secured.[15] He went on to be appointed president of Sri Lanka following the peoples uprising and Gotabhaya Rajapaksha's resignation in 2022.[16]

Senanayake suggested early in his parliamentary career that the imposition of an overly powerful executive presidency on a Westminster type parliament was likely to cause repercussions in Parliament's role, human rights and national policy and rule of law. He submitted a model constitution for the reflections of the select committee.[17] In parliament he has been an active lobbyist against the alcohol and tobacco industries. He has been espousing the importance of transforming modern Sri Lanka in to a commercial trading hub giving emphasis to Sri Lanka's geographical position. Senanayake also established strong contacts with many countries and world leaders during his tenure in the foreign ministry.[18]

Senanayake did not contest for election in 2020, and has been spending much of his time writing. His first published book 'Transcending Sita' has been well received.[19]

  1. ^ "VASANTHA SENANAYAKE". Directory of Members. Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Parliamentary Elections -2010" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Family jewels on parade in new parliament". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 23 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Tilak Marapana Reluctant To Swear-In As New Foreign Minister With Ravi's Personal Staff Handling Ministry Affairs".
  5. ^ "New Foreign Minister to be appointed in two days". www.adaderana.lk.
  6. ^ 2017-11-14 Hon Vasantha Senanayake,speech in Parliament | 2017/11/14. පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී නැගු ප්‍රශ්නයකට පිළිතුරු ලබාදුන් අවස්ථාව.. | By Vasantha Senanayake | Facebook, retrieved 2022-09-15
  7. ^ "General Election 2015: Full list of preferential votes". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst | Breaking News and Latest News provider | Political | Sports | International | Business. 2015-08-18. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  8. ^ "Vasantha Senanayake pledges support to MR". Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  9. ^ "Sri Lankan president appoints more Cabinet ministers". economynext.com. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  10. ^ "Wasantha Senanayake back in UNP camp - Sri Lanka Latest News". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  11. ^ "Sri Lanka parliament adjourned after no confidence vote". economynext.com. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  12. ^ "Parliament proves its prowess | FT Online". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  13. ^ "Wasantha shuttles back to cabinet". Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  14. ^ Administrator (2018-02-18). "Harsha de Silva and Vasantha Senanayake "Shock" UNP By Demanding That Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe Step Down as Prime Minister". dbsjeyaraj.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  15. ^ "Defeat Of Ranil Is A Win For UNP". Colombo Telegraph. 2019-09-27. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  16. ^ Administrator (2012-07-24). "To end its losing streak UNP needs to rebuild its base among Sinhalese". dbsjeyaraj.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  17. ^ "Accuntability, Efficiency And Pluralism: The Need And The Possibility Of Urgent Reform". Colombo Telegraph. 2014-08-23. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  18. ^ "Home". Vasantha Senanayake. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  19. ^ Nadeera, Dilshan (12 December 2021). "Comment: Vasantha Senanayake's Transcending Sita". Retrieved 2022-09-15.