Suranimala Rajapaksha

Rajapakse Mohottige Don Suranimala Rajapaksha (Sinhala:සුරනිමල රාජපක්ෂ) (5 January 1949 – 14 March 2016) was a Sri Lankan politician. Rajapaksha was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1994 and he was the Minister of School Education in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka from 2001 to 2004. He was a member of the United National Party (UNP) and a member of the UNP Working Committee. He was also appointed as the Coordinating secretary to the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2015. At the time of his death he acted as the special envoy (representative) to the Prime Minister. His younger son Kanishka Rajapaksha was also appointed as the Coordinating Assistant to the Prime Minister after the death of Rajapaksha. Kanishka is an attorney at law.

Early life

He was born to Saranelis Rajapaksha and D.P. Rajapaksha Hamine. His father was a well-respected landowner in the village of Samanabeddha, Thitthapatthara, in Gampaha District. He was the youngest son in a family of three. In 1983, he married Chandani Jayakodi.

Education

Rajapaksha completed his primary education at Mayadunna Maha Vidyalaya and Rajasingha Maha Vidyalaya. He later entered Ananda College at Colombo to complete his secondary education.

Political career

Member of Youth League In 1973, he was appointed a working committee member in the Youth League of the UNP. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the treasurer of the Youth League.

Minister of Provincial Council

With the 13th amendment to the constitution in 1988, the government established Provincial Councils for each province. The First Provincial Council election was held in 1988, and Rajapaksha was elected as a member of the Provincial Council representing the Gampaha district.

Member of Parliament In the 1994 general election, UNP lost to Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's PA and she was appointed as the Prime Minister and soon after elected as the 5th executive President of the country. However, in 1994, Rajapaksha was elected as a member of parliament (MP) of the opposition for the very first time at the general election.

Minister of School Education Suranimala Rajapaksha Sworn-in as the Minister of School Education in front of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe In 2001 UNP called for a general election after PA lost their vote of confidence in the Parliament. After 7 years, UNP defeated the PA at the 2001 general election and Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as the PM of Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Rajapaksha was re-elected to the Parliament in that election and he was appointed as the Minister of School Education in 2001.

Political controversy In 2003, Rajapaksha who was a non-cabinet Education Minister would frequently undermine his senior Cabinet Minister Karunasena Kodituwakku resulting in a rift within the UNP. According to prominent Sri Lankan academic and political analyst Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Suranimala Rajapaksa, as Project Ministers of Education was exercising equal powers with Karunasena Kodituwakku who was in theory his superior leading to the party facing an internal conflict.

Domestic Airlines delay controversy In March 2003, a domestic airline was delayed by two hours in Jaffna because non-cabinet minister for educational services, Suranimala Rajapakse, was lunching with a local MP. The British Broadcasting Corporation correspondent Frances Harrison reported that Elderly and sick passengers were loaded on to the aircraft with no air conditioning or refreshments and kept waiting while the minister then drank tea with the Jaffna security force commander at the airport.

Matara Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge Sarath Sisira Kumara later released Rajapaksha and his associates on a Rs. 100,000 personal bail each.

Coordinating Secretary to the Prime Minister The common candidate of the joint opposition, Maithreepala Sirisena who secured a comprehensive victory on 8 January 2015 presidential election was sworn in as the 7th executive president of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Soon after, opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the new Prime Minister in the presence of the president. Wickremesinghe later appointed him as the coordinating secretary to the Prime Minister on 27 January 2015.

Positions held at the end Working Committee member of the United National Party Secretary, Ex-Parliamentarian Group Special envoy to the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

Death Rajapaksha died in the early hours of 14 March 2016 in Colombo, at the age of 67, he had been receiving treatment at a private hospital. He served as the special envoy to Ranil Wickremesinghe, the prime minister of Sri Lanka, for just over a year, at the time of his death.