Ranil Wickremesinghe was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka during 1993-1994, and 2001-2004

Ranil Shriyan Wickremasinghe (born March 24, 1949) is a popular Sri Lankan politician. He was Prime Minister twice, from May 07, 1993 to August 19, 1994 and from December 09, 2001 to April 06, 2004. He has been the leader of the United National Party since November, 1994 and has been a member of the party since the early 1970s. Image File history File links Ranil_Wickremesinghe2. ... Image File history File links Ranil_Wickremesinghe2. ... March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (84th in Leap years). ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Politics of Sri Lanka takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ... The following is a list of Sri Lankan Prime Ministers: Don Stephen Senanayake (February 4, 1948 - March 26, 1952) Dudley Shelton Senanayake (March 26, 1952 - October 12, 1953) John Lionel Kotalawela (October 12, 1953 - April 12, 1956) Solomon Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (April 12, 1956 - September 26, 1959) Wijeyananda Dahanayake (September... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United National Party (UNP, Sinhalese:(pronounced Eksath Jathika Pakshaya), Tamil: ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி) is a political party in Sri Lanka. ... For other uses, see November (disambiguation). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

Antecedents

Wickremasinghe's father was Esmond Wickremasinghe, an ex-Samasamajist and supremo of the Lake House group of newspapers. The Wickremasinghes were an established part of the upper class Colombo Anglican elite. His paternal uncle Lakshman Wickremasinghe was later to be a much respected radical Bishop of the Church of Sri Lanka. His maternal line consisted of newspaper barons and landowners, the Wijewardenas, who were Sinhala Buddhists. His maternal grandfather was D.R. Wijewardena, the founder of the Lake House publishing empire. He was a nephew of J.R. Jayawardene, later President of Sri Lanka. The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (literally Ceylon Equal Society Party, in Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, in Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி) is a trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. ... Nickname: Motto: Official website: [2] Location [[Image:|250px|Location of Colombo]] Government Colombo Division, Colombo District Mayor Prassanna Gunawardena (United National Party) Geographical characteristics Area 14. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Look up élite and elite in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Sinhala (also Sinhalese, formerly Singhalese) is the language spoken by the Sinhalese, the largest ethnic group of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... Junius Richard Jayewardene (September 17, 1906 November 1, 1996), famously abbreviated in Sri Lanka as JR, was the president of Sri Lanka from 1978 until 1989. ...

Education

Wickremasinghe was educated at the prestigious Royal College, Colombo where he was a classmate and a good friend of Anura Bandaranaike, son of then Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike and Dinesh Gunawardena, son of socialist leader Philip Gunawardena. In spite of his feudal inheritance, Wickremesinghe chose to pursue his higher education in his own country, entering the Faculty of Law at the University of Colombo. After graducation he completed his studies at the Sri Lanka Law College and enrolled as an attorney-at-law. Incidently of all the Presidents and Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe is the only person to graduate from a local university, the remainder either having degrees from foreign universities or no university education at all. Royal College, Colombo was founded in January 1835. ... Anura Priyadarshi Solomon Dias Bandaranaike (born February 15, 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician. ... Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (1899-September 26, 1959) was Prime Minister (1956-59) of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka). ... Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum, itself borrowed from a Germanic root *fehu, a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held under certain obligations by feodati. ... The University of Colombo (also known as UoC), Sri Lankas oldest university, is located in the urban centre of Colombo. ... A lawyer in the United States is technically called an attorney at law or an attorney-at-law. ...

Political Career

A successful lawyer, Wickremasinghe joined the United National Party (UNP) and progressed through its youth and bar ranks. Wickremasinghe was appointed as the chief organizer of the Kelaniya Parliamentary seat in the mid 1970s but was later installed as the chief organizer of the Biyagama seat which he won in the 1977 Parliamentary Elections. The United National Party (UNP, Sinhalese:(pronounced Eksath Jathika Pakshaya), Tamil: ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி) is a political party in Sri Lanka. ...

He was installed as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new government and was soon promoted to the post of Minister of Youth Affairs and Employment which made him the youngest cabinet minister of Sri Lankan history to date. He introduced the National Youth Services Council (NYSCO) which provides vocational and career training to thousands of school leavers. Wickremesinghe was later made the Minister of Education. As the education minister, he could made a visible positive difference in the standards of education and could build an image as an achiever. Wickremasinghe was also behind distributing television sets to thousands of remote schools in Sri Lanka.

Under the Presidency of Ranasinghe Premadasa, Wickremesinghe was appointed as the Minister of Industry and Leader of the House under which he initiated the Industrial reforms and established the Biyagama Special Economic Zone. Wickremasinghe had competition from his intellectual colleagues Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, who had been rivals of President Premadasa. However, he outmaneuvered both of them and many others and accordingly he was appointed the leader of house in 1989. On May 01, 1993 Wickremasinghe was sworn in as Prime Minister after President Ranasinghe Premadasa was brutally assassinated, allegedly by the Tamil Tigers. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The office of Leader of the House in the Government of Australia exists in order for the management of government business, involving the order in which Government issues are to be dealt with, which Government members will speak, tactical matters in reaction to impediments to such management; negotiates with the... Lionel Gamini Dissanayake (March 20, 1942 - October 24, 1994) was a prominent Sri Lankan politician and a former Presidential candidate. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Tamil Tigers emblem The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) (Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், Thamileela Vidutalaip Pulikal), also known as the Tamil Tigers, is a guerrilla organisation fighting to establish an independent Tamil state, to be called Tamil Eelam, in the north-east of Sri Lanka. ...

In the 1994 Parliamentary Elections, the UNP lost to Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's People's Alliance (PA) which ousted Wickremasinghe from the Prime Ministership. He also lost the race to be the Opposition Leader by 2 votes to fellow UNP member Gamini Dissanayake who just re-joined the party. This gave Gamini Dissanayake the default leadership of the party and made him the Presidential nominee of the UNP. The UNP was showing great spirit and strength under Gamini Dissanayake, when he too was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. Gamini Dissanayake's widowed wife Srima became the replacement candidate of the UNP and secured only 35% of the vote, losing to Chandrika Kumaratunga in all the Parliamentary seats in Sri Lanka apart from Mahiyangana. Afterwards Wickremasinghe was appointed as the Opposition Leader as well as the UNP leader. Mrs. ... The Peoples Alliance is the English name of several parties Spain The Peoples Alliance (in Spanish Alianza Popular) was a political party in Spain. ... The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest party not in government in a Westminster System of parliamentary government. ... Tamil Tigers emblem The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) (Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், Thamileela Vidutalaip Pulikal), also known as the Tamil Tigers, is a guerrilla organisation fighting to establish an independent Tamil state, to be called Tamil Eelam, in the north-east of Sri Lanka. ...

As Opposition Leader Wickremasinghe undertook his party through a difficult time period where the UNP supported many of the good deeds of the government despite some members of his party asking him to be more aggressive. In 1999 President Kumaratunga called the Presidential Elections a year prior to its expiration in the hope of regaining and fortifying power in order to amend the constitution. Wickremesinghe was nominated as the UNP candidate. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

After a tense election campaign in the wake of the violent North Western Provincial Council election, President Kumaratunga was attacked by the Tamil Tigers in an attempt on her life in which she lost her right eye. In the election held 2 days later (December 21, 1999), amidst a wave of sympathy, Chandrika Kumaratunga received 51% of the total votes to be re-elected for her second and final term. The gap between Wickremasinghe and Kumaratunga was approximately 700,000 votes (6% of the valid votes). Kumaratunga was sworn in for her second term on December 22, 1999. December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

After the loss of the 1999 Presidential Elections, Wickremesinghe unsuccessfully led his UNP through the 2000 Parliamentary Elections again losing out to the PA. During this time period, both the PA & the UNP agreed upon a new constitutional draft but the UNP later withdrew protesting against what it said was Kumaratunga's attempts to extend her Presidential time period.

That year, Sri Lanka underwent severe losses in the warfront and only managed a highly unsatisfactory -1% economic growth rate, the first ever negative growth in the country's history. By the end of the year a some members of the PA government led by S. B. Dissanayake a senior Minister of the PA government, and Deputy Finance Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris left the PA to join the UNP thus destabilising the Parliamentary composition which led Kumaratunga to call for fresh elections. The United National Front (UNF), formed with the PA dissidents, the Sri lanka Muslim Congress and the Ceylon Workers' Congress assumed power in the 2001 Parliamentary Elections held on December 10. Wickremasinghe's UNP won all but 6 of the 22 Electoral Districts in Sri Lanka. Thus Ranil Wickremasinghe took oaths as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the second time. The United National Front is a alliance in Sri Lanka, formed by the United National Party and the Ceylon Workers Congress. ... The Ceylon Workers Congress is a political party in Sri Lanka. ... Legislative elections were held in Sri Lanka on December 6, 2001, just a little over a year after the last elections in October [2000]]. The elections were called after the then President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, dissolved the legislature in the face of a vote of confidence which her partys government... December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Districts are a form of local government in several countries. ...

Then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, right, attended special rituals at the most-venerated heart of religious fervour, Nallur Kovil during his visit to northern Jaffna peninsula on March 14, 2002. At Wickremasinghe’s left is UNP Colombo District Parliamentarian T. Maheshwaran.

One of his first acts was to sign a ceasefire agreement with the LTTE rebels and start peace talks. This has resulted in a visible development of the country. The civil war came to a halt; the North and South of the island was linked after decades and millions of people benefitted as a result. During Wickremasinghe's second term he also re-energized the economy to reach an economic growth rate of 6% and managed to keep the inflation down, at 2% - the country's lowest. His liberal economic policies stablized the national economy. He also developed many international ties setup by him during his time in the Oppostion. Sri Lanka underwent huge social changes during this period due to the ceasefire which made the country much accessible and open. The tigers however abruptly withdrew from the peace process in early 2003. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x752, 124 KB)Then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, right, attended special rituals at the most-venerated heart of religious fervour, Nallur Kovil during his visit to northern Jaffna peninsula on March 14, 2002. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x752, 124 KB)Then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, right, attended special rituals at the most-venerated heart of religious fervour, Nallur Kovil during his visit to northern Jaffna peninsula on March 14, 2002. ...

Wickremasinghe came under fiery criticism and was called a traitor by many, after a police officer, commonly perceived as a Wickramasinghe ally, exposed an elite Sri Lankan army LRRP unit who were engaged in operations against the LTTE, on the accusastion that the unit was deployed to assassinate Wickramasinghe. However, most of the information about this event is baseless and were created by the political opponenets of Wickremasinghe, mainly the extremist JVP. During the Presidential Election campaign of 2005 Wickremasinghe addressed most of these concerns and proved these accusations were not correct. LRRP (pronounced and sometimes spelled LuRP), is an acronym for the United States Army Long Range Recon Patrols, special six-man teams of primarily Rangers utilised in the Vietnam War on highly dangerous special operations missions deep into enemy territory. ...

By November of 2003 the LTTE showed willingness to reenter the peace talks by proposing an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA), which was seen by some as a blueprint for peace. President Kumaratunga quickly shook off these proposals and assumed the Defense, Interior, and Media Ministries - which cut short the powers of the UNP regime. Soon the President Kumaratunga's PA allied with radical socialists Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna to form the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and dissolved Parliament to call for new elections. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Peoples Liberation Front (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) is a nationalist Marxist political party in Sri Lanka. ... UPFA election symbol The United Peoples Freedom Alliance is a political alliance in Sri Lanka. ... An aerial view of Parliament of India at New Delhi. ...

President Mahinda Rajapakse and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe agreed to commence the peace process in order to solve the National question by a political solution. The agreement was reached between the two parties after a discussion that took place at 'Temple Trees,' the Official Residence of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, on December 15, 2005, said sources in Presidential Secretariat.

In the 2004 Parliamentary Elections held on April 02 Ranil Wickremasinghe's UNF lost governmental office. The popular image of the UPFA candidate and his unrealistic but attractive promises like promising a 70% wage raise, tearing apart of the ceasefire agreement, lowering of the cost of living, employing the unemployed and reinstating the fertilizer subsidy. This left Wickremasinghe and his party a lot to think about and within such a small time they rebuilt the grassroots of the party and strengthened its position as the largest political party of Sri Lanka. Within 14 months of the assumption to power of the UPFA the radical JVP wing left the government destabilizing the government which has over 30 Parliamentarians short of the required majority. Image File history File links President_Rajapakse_&_Opposition_Leader_Wickremasinghe_15-12-2005. ... Image File history File links President_Rajapakse_&_Opposition_Leader_Wickremasinghe_15-12-2005. ... Legislative elections were held in Sri Lanka on 2 April 2004. ... April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ...

In December 2004 Ranil Wickremasinghe was chosen by the United National Party as its Presidential candidate for 2005 Presidential Elections due in late 2005. The Supreme Court decided in August 2005 that the elections should be held this year despite the President's argument that her term ends in 2006. Mahinda Rajapaksa, then Prime Minister, was appointed as the Presidential candidate of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. It was thought that Wickremesinghe's popularity among the minorities, the industrialists, entrepreneurs and the NGO activists might give him an edge over Rajapaksa who has a nationalist Buddhist image. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United National Party (UNP, Sinhalese:(pronounced Eksath Jathika Pakshaya), Tamil: ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி) is a political party in Sri Lanka. ... Presidential elections in Sri Lanka were held on 17 November 2005. ... Percy Mahendran Mahinda Rajapakse (born November 18, 1945) is the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and a Sri Lankan politician. ... The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is a major political party in Sri Lanka. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by...

On the other hand, the more fundamentalist Buddhists distrust Wickremesinghe because of his Christian background, social policies and acceptance that peace can only be secured with power sharing with the LTTE; while nationalists suspect him of being a tool of US imperialism.

In the Presidential Election, held on November 17, 2005, Wickremesinghe was defeated by more popular Mahinda Rajapaksa. Wickremesinghe's chances of victory had been considered good, but he lost the race to Rajapakse with a margin of 180,786 votes, the percentage difference being approximately the same as between George W. Bush and John Kerry in the U.S. presidential election, 2004. Ranil Wickremesinghe's defeat has been attributed by the UNP to a boycott called by the LTTE in the North and East of the island, preventing about 500,000 votes from being cast. Almost all of the minority Tamils who were prevented from voting by the LTTE were expected to back Wickremesinghe as he was seen as a minority friendly candidate in contrast to Mahinda Rajapakse who was supported by the hardline nationalist Marxist party JVP and Buddhist monks. There were also allegations by his party that several of their supporters were deliberately disenfrenchised by pro-Rajapakse government officials, by striking their names off the electoral register. Presidential elections in Sri Lanka were held on 17 November 2005. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. ... Presidential election results map. ... JVP may stand for: Jugular venous pressure: An important marker ellicited during clinical examination to assess right heart function. ...

Following his defeat there were calls for his replacement as party leader. Wickremesinghe had initially agreed to step down, but later changed his mind following appeals by several of his close confidants. As calls for reforms of the party continue, Wickremesinghe is likely to pass the mantle of leadership to the deserving shoulders of his trusted deputy Karu Jayasuriya. Karu Jayasuriya is the deputy Leader of the United National Party of Sri Lanka since 2000. ...

He is the President for Asia and Pacific of the International Democratic Union. He had dated Mr. Paul Perera's daughter during his early days and having boy Ravin age 21

External links

• Ranil Wickremesinghe's Web Site
• United National Party website
• "Ranil Wickremesinghe: consistency is his forte"
• BBC Profile
• "TIME as Asian Hero on Wickremesinghe"