Gamini Lokuge

Gamini Kulawansa Lokuge (, ; 8 May 1943 – 30 June 2025) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka for the Colombo Electoral District between 1989 and 2024, and had previously represented Kesbewa in the National State Assembly from 1983 to 1989. Throughout his time in Sri Lankan politics, Lokuge held many different cabinet positions, such as Minister of Power, Minister of Energy, Minister of Transport, Minister of Labour, Minister of Sports and Minister of Tourism, among many others, through many national governments. He also served as the President of the National Employees Union as well as the head of the United National Party’s Public Service Trade Union.

Early life Lokuge was born on 8 May 1943 in Sri Lanka (then British Ceylon). He received his primary education at Ananda Sastralaya in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.

Political career

Lokuge entered politics in 1960 as a member of the United National Party (UNP). Following the UNP’s defeat in the 1994 general election, he served on the opposition benches.

In 2002, after the UNP regained a parliamentary plurality in the previous year, he was appointed Minister of Tourism under the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga. In 2006, Lokuge crossed the floor and joined the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

During the 2018 constitutional crisis, Lokuge briefly returned to the cabinet and was sworn in as the Minister of Labour, Foreign Employment, and Petroleum Resources Development.

In the wake of the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president in 2019, Lokuge was appointed Minister of State for Urban Development. Following the SLPP’s decisive victory in the 2020 general elections, he was appointed as the Minister of Transport and was appointed to the Legislative Standing Committee. In 2021, during a cabinet reshuffle, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed him Minister of Power. During his stint as Minister of Energy, he proposed an expansion of the nation's power plant network and engaged in the possibility of connecting Sri Lanka's electric grid with India as well as Singapore.

In 2022, a deepening economic crisis marked by prolonged power cuts, some lasting for 13 hours at one point, occurred. Lokuge was appointed Minister of Power on March 3 of that year, replacing Udaya Gammanpila, who was dismissed for criticizing government policy during the crisis. He was not given a cabinet post in the subsequent Ranil Wickremesinghe government, and he instead dedicated his time to organizing internal party responsibilities. The newspaper alleged in its reports that vehicles used by the UNP in its campaign were allegedly, fitted with fake number plates, some of which matched registration numbers of decommissioned government vehicles, including a jeep which was found to have belonged to the Headquarters of the Anti-Malaria Campaign, a government agency.

The reports further allege that UNP supporters engaged in acts of violence and threats of intimidation against Sri Lanka Freedom Party election observers and supporters at polling stations in areas of the electorate. Many of these supporters and party organizers were reportedly arrested on what the paper described as false charges in the lead-up to the election in Kesbewa. The Aththa newspaper also reported in its paper how the UNP was allegedly engaging in vote-rigging efforts.

During his tenure as the labour minister under President Mahinda Rajapaksa, reforms were introduced to the state Employees’ Pension Fund which would have allowed private sector employees to receive a pension. Public sector employees and trade union activists argued that the proposed amendment bill was brought without consultation, this eventually led to protests. One protest centred around the Katunayake Free Trade Zone, saw police fire into protesters, killing one and injuring many others.

His remains were placed on display at his private residence for public viewing from 1 July to 3 July. His funeral took place on 3 July, at the Dole Kanatta Public Cemetery in Piliyandala.