Academic-turned-politician Harini Amarasuriya becomes the sixteenth Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Amarasuriya is also entrusted with portfolios of Justice, Industries, Science and Technology, Health, and Investment. She succeeded Dinesh Gunawardena who resigned from the post on Monday, following the presidential election won by Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Amarasuriya is the third woman to hold the position after Sirimavo Bandarnaike and Chandrika Kumartunga. Born on March 6, 1970, she is the country’s first female premier in 25 years and became a Member of Parliament in 2020. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Hindu College, Masters in App. Anthropology and Development Studies and a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh.
She has been a part of many parliamentarian committees such as the Women Parliamentarians Caucus in Parliament, Parliamentary Caucus for Animal Welfare, Committee on Ethics and Privileges, among others.
This is a significant milestone for the Sri Lanka’s political system as the Amarasuriya is the third woman to hold this position, after Bandaranaike, the world’s first female prime minister in 1960, and her daughter, Kumaratunga, who became the PM of Sri Lanka in 1994.
