D. M. Jayaratne

Disanayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne  MP
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Incumbent
Assumed office  21 April 2010
President	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded by	Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Born	7 June 1931 (1931-06-07) (age 79)1
Political party	Freedom Party
Religion	Buddhism2

Disanayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne MP (known as D. M. "Di Mu" Jayaratne;³ Sinhala: දිසානායක මුදියන්සේලාගේ ජයරත්න; Tamil: டிசைனாக முடியன்செலகே ஜெயரத்னே; born June 7, 1931²) is the 20th and current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, and a veteran Sri Lankan politician. A founding member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Jayaratne was first elected to parliament in 1970. He was sworn in as Prime Minister on April 21, 2010.⁴

Contents 1 Early life 2 Politics 2.1 Cabinet Ministries held 2.2 Prime minister 3 See also 4 References

Early life

D. M. Jayaratne was born on June 7, 1931. He was educated at Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya in Gampola, a town just outside Kandy. He was a student at the Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya during mid 1950s^{citation needed}. Following the founding of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Kandy in 1951 by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Jayaratne worked as a teacher at Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya. He later worked as Postmaster at Doluwa from 1960-62.¹

Politics

Jayaratne first entered parliament following the 1970 general election, obtaining 14,463 votes as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) candidate in the Gampala electorate, and defeating W.P.B. Dissanayake of the United National Party (UNP).⁵ He was subsequently defeated by Dissanayake in the 1977 election in which just 8 members of the SLFP were returned to parliament.⁶ He was again re-elected to parliament in 1989 from the Kandy District under the new preferential voting system. He obtained 54,290 preferential votes, topping the SLFP list in the Kandy District.¹

Re-elected to parliament under the People's Alliance in 1994, Jayaratne was appointed Minister of Land, Agriculture and Forestry by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, entering the cabinet for the first time.¹

Cabinet Ministries held

• Land, Agriculture and Forestry - 1994-2000
• Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives - 2000-2001
• Post and Telecommunication; Upcountry Development - 2004-2005
• Post and Telecommunication; Rural Economic Development - 2005-2007
• Plantation Industries 2007-2010

Prime minister

Following the election victory of the United People's Freedom Alliance at the 2010 general election, Jayaratne, the most senior member of the SLFP, was sworn in as Prime Minister on April 21, 2010. Under the current constitution of Sri Lanka, the Prime Ministership is largely a ceremonial post. Along with it, he will also hold the ministry Buddha Sasana (Buddhism) and Religious Affairs.⁷

See also

• Cabinet of Sri Lanka

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister is D. M Jayaratne". News.lk. 1931-06-07. http://news.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14847&Itemid=44. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Parliament profile
3. ^ http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201004/20100421new_prime_minister.htm
4. ^ D.M Jayaratne sworn in as PM, Daily Mirror, 2010-04-21
5. ^ "Results Of Parliamentary General Election -1970". Department of Elections. http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_1970%20GENERAL%20ELECTION.PDF. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
6. ^ "Results Of Parliamentary General Election -1977". Department of Elections. http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/Results_General_1977.PDF. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
7. ^ http://adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=7906

Political offices
Preceded by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake	Prime Minister of Sri Lanka 2010–present	Incumbent

v • d • e Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka D.S. Senanayake • Dudley Senanayake • John Kotelawala • S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike • W. Dahanayake • Dudley Senanayake • Sirimavo Bandaranaike • Dudley Senanayake • Sirimavo Bandaranaike • J.R. Jayewardene • Ranasinghe Premadasa • D.B. Wijetunga • Ranil Wickremasinghe • Chandrika Kumaratunga • Sirimavo Bandaranaike • Ratnasiri Wickremanayake • Ranil Wickremasinghe • Mahinda Rajapaksa • Ratnasiri Wickremanayake • D. M. Jayaratne

v • d • e Parliaments of Sri Lanka (and years begun)     1 (1947) 2 (1952) 3 (1956) 4 (1960 March) 5 (1960 July) 6 (1965) 7 (1970) 8 (1977) 9 (1989) 10 (1994) 11 (2000) 12 (2001) 13 (2004) 14 (2010) 15 (2016)