Harini Amarasuriya facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dr Harini Amarasuriya
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| හරිනි අමරසූරිය ஹரிணி அமரசூரிய |
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| 16th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 24 September 2024 |
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| President | Anura Kumara Dissanayake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Dinesh Gunawardena | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament for National List |
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| In office 20 August 2020 – 24 September 2024 |
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| Born | 6 March 1970 Galle, Southern Province, Dominion of Ceylon |
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| Nationality | Sri Lankan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dr Harini Amarasuriya (born 6 March 1970) is a Sri Lankan academic, activist, and politician serving as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka since 2024. She is the third woman to hold this office. A member of the National People's Power, she also holds the portfolios of Minister Justice, Public Administration, Provincial Councils, Local Government and Labour, Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Minister of Trade, Commercial, Food Security, Co-operative Development, Industries and Entrepreneur Development, Minister of Women, Child and Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of Health since 2024. Amarasuriya has been a National List Member of Parliament for the NPP since 2020. She was previously a senior lecturer at the Department of Social Studies of the Open University of Sri Lanka.
She is ideologically part of the centre-left faction of the National People's Power and considers herself to be a liberal. Amarasuriya is well known for her research on youth unemployment, feminism, gender inequality, child protection and inefficiencies in the Sri Lankan education system. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sri Lankan non-governmental organisation Nest.
Early life and career
Amarasuriya holds a B.A. (Hons) in Sociology from Hindu College, University of Delhi, an M.A. in Applied Anthropology and Development from Macquarie University, and a PhD degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh. She has also published books and conducted research on youth, politics, dissent, activism, gender, development, state-society relations, child protection, globalisation and development. After serving as a child protection and psychosocial practitioner for several years, she joined the Open University of Sri Lanka as a senior lecturer in the field of Sociology.
She is also an activist, becoming a member of the Federation of University Teachers' Association and joining protests demanding for free education. She has advocated for gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and is part of the Parliamentary Caucus for Animal Welfare.
Politics
Amarasuriya joined the National Intellectuals Organization in 2019 and campaigned for the NPP Candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake during the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election. On 12 August 2020, she was nominated and appointed by the JJB as the national list candidate to enter the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka following the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election.
Confusion and concerns were raised about whether she could continue her service as an academic senior lecturer at the Open University after being nominated as a national list candidate. However, in an interview with EconomyNext, she officially revealed that she had resigned from the position of senior lecturer of the Open University in order to pursue her political career and parliamentary politics as an MP.
Premiership (2024–present)
On 24 September 2024, Amarasuriya was sworn in as the sixteenth Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. She is the first prime minister of her party, and the third female to hold the role after Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga. Aside from the premiership, she was appointed as concurrent minister of justice, health, women and trade and industries.
See also
In Spanish: Harini Amarasuriya para niños
