Anura Priyadarshi Solomon Dias Bandaranaike (born February 15, 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician. In April 2004 he was appointeed Minister of Tourism of Sri Lanka. He has previously served as Speaker of the 11th Parliament, which lasted from 2000 to 2001, and as Foreign Minister briefly in 2005. He is the son of former Prime Ministers Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike and the brother of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Sunethra Bandaranaike, philanthropist. February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... El Nido, Philippines Tourism is the act of travel for the purpose of recreation and business, and the provision of services for this act. ... The term Speaker is usually the title given to the presiding officer of a countrys lower house of parliament or congress. ... A minister for foreign affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the governmental foreign policy of a sovereign nation. ... Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (1899-1959) was Prime Minister (1956-59) of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka). ... Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (April 17, 1916 - October 10, 2000) was a politician from Sri Lanka. ... Mrs. ...

His family has a long history in the socio-political arena of the country. His grandfather, Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranike was the Maha Mudaliyar, (the chief native interpreter and advisor to the Governor) during British colonial rule. The Bandaranaikes are also closely related to the Obeyesekere family which remained faithful supporters of British Colonial rule. Because of these family connections, Bandaranaike as he is known among the voters of Gampaha district, is considered to be a relatively slow-moving politician who missed the chance of becoming the President of Sri Lanka on several occasions, as his sister Chandrika received the most support from their mother. He left his family's party in 1993 when his sister came back from London and did not join back until 2001.

Anura Bandaranaike (second from left) at the head of the Nuwara Eliya contingent of the SLFP at the May Day procession in Colombo, c1990

Bandaranaike was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and attended Royal College, Colombo. His father Solomon, while serving as prime minister, was assassinated when Bandaranaike was 10 years old. Bandaranaike was elected to Parliament in 1977 and has been a member since then. He was the leader of the opposition from 1983 to 1988, the minister of higher education from 1993 to 1994, and the speaker of Parliament from 2000 to 2001 when the party that his sister leads lost elections. He was in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party founded by his father for most of his political life, although he was an MP for the rival United National Party headed by his childhood friend when it was in the opposition. When the SLFP led alliance won the elections in 2004, Bandaranaike became minister of tourism, industry and investment. Despite being in politics for over quarter of a century, he has only been in a governing side for less than 3 years. Image File history File linksMetadata Anura_Bandaranaike_May_Day_1990. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Anura_Bandaranaike_May_Day_1990. ... Location Map of Colombo with its administrative districts Coordinates , Government District Colombo Division, Colombo District Mayor Uvaiz Mohammad Imitiyaz (Independent Group) Geographical characteristics Area     City 248 mi²/ 642 km²     Land   / km²     Water   / km² Demographics Population     City (2001) 647,100 ( 2001 census )     Density   3,305/km²   Metro 2,234,289 (Colombo... Royal College, Colombo was founded in January 1835. ... The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is a major political party in Sri Lanka. ... The United National Party (UNP, Sinhalese:(pronounced Eksath Jathika Pakshaya), Tamil: ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி) is a political party in Sri Lanka. ...

Following the assassination of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005, Bandaranaike was appointed as foreign minister, amidst increased tension throughout the country. He dropped his position as minister of industry and investment, but remains tourism minister. He was later chosen as the running mate of Mahinda Rajapakse for the presidential campaign after the party rejected Bandaranaike's own ambitions of becoming the candidate. Following Rajapakse's election victory it had been widely predicted that Bandaranaike would be appointed premier or foreign minister. However he was accused of playing a "negative role" in the campaign and was offered only the tourism ministry instead. [1] Kadirgamar on a diplomatic visit to France, January 1996. ... Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (born November 18, 1945), Sri Lankan politician, became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on April 6, 2004, following the victory of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance in the April 2, 2004 Sri Lankan legislative elections. ...

Bandaranaike is a bachelor and he is a gay.