Sarath Munasinghe

Major General Sarath Munasinghe, was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer and politician. He had served Commander Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna and following his retirement, went on to be elected as Member of Parliament of Kurunegala District and Deputy speaker and chairman of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Early life and education Born in Polgahawela in Kurunegala, he was educated at Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala.

Military career Munasinghe joined the Sri Lankan Army as a cadet officer on 5 February 1970 and following his basic officer training at the Army Training Centre, Diyatalawa in its 3rd intake, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Artillery Regiment, Sri Lanka Artillery on 1 June 1971, soon after the 1971 JVP insurrection.

Serving for 29 years in the army, he held several senior commands such as; general officer commanding 51 Division SLA and 54 Division SLA; commander 12 Brigade Group, Colombo; commander 15 Brigade Group, Mannar; commanding officer of 6th Regiment Sri Lanka Artillery; coordinating chief Batticalao, Ampara, Polonnaruwa Districts and coordinating officer Welioya. He was also the Army Director Psychological Operations and Director Media Operations Headquarters, Ministry of Defense and Director Media Army Headquarters whilst being the army media spokesman. In 1998 he was promoted to the rank of major general and in 1999 served as Commander Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna, one of the most senior commands in the Sri Lankan military.

Political career Major General Munasinghe entered the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 2000 as a member of the Peoples Alliance, representing the Kurunegala District and was made Deputy speaker and chairman of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, and in 2001 crossed over to the opposition and became a member of the United National Party (UNP). He was not reelected in 2001. However he was appointed as the chairman of the Building Materials Corporation. At the time of his death he was the UNP chief organizer for the Polgahawela electorate. He died after a brief illness and his funeral took place in Kurunegala with full military honors.

Family He was married and had two sons.