DM, new PM

Chaminda PERERA

Veteran politician and SLFP stalwart D.M. Jayaratne was sworn-in as the country’s new Prime Minister before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a simple ceremony held at Temple Trees yesterday.

Senior politicians representing the SLFP and its allied parties participated in the oath-taking ceremony. He is the second Prime Minister of Independent Sri Lanka to represent the Kandy District.

He is the Senior Vice President of SLFP who joined the party on September 2, 1951, the very date, the SLFP was inaugurated by its leader and former Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Jayaratne is the oldest living founder member of the party and his membership number is 13.

Born on June 4, 1931, Jayaratne received his primary education from the Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya and secondary education at the Gampola Zahira College and Gandhi College, Kandy and was appointed a teacher for some time.

He was a crusader for the party’s victory and faced numerous problems due to his loyalty to the party and its leadership. He helped former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike at times when the party was in crisis.

He was elected member of Kandukara Pahala Village Committee and subsequently became its Chairman. He was the Chairman of Village Committee Members’ Association in the Kandy District and became its national President within a very short period.

D.M. Jayaratne contested the Gampola electorate under the SLFP ticket at the 1970 General Election and made his debut appearance in Parliament. He was a member of the committee to investigate the working of River Valleys Development Board during the time of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake in 1976.

D.M. Jayaratne held the portfolio of Agriculture and Forestry under the People’s Alliance Government headed by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

Following the election in 2000 he was appointed Agriculture, Food and Co-operatives Minister. With the General Election victory of the PA in 2004, he was appointed Minister of Post and Telecommunication and Upcountry Development and later in 2005 he was appointed Minister of Post and Telecommunication and Rural Economic Development under President Mahinda Rajapaksa. From 2007 to-date he has been the Minister of Plantation Industries.

In 2001 he was elected Chairman of the Asia Pacific Region of Food and Agriculture Organization.

Jayaratne is the 20th Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Jayaratne secured the highest votes from the Kandy District at the 1989 General Election and entered the Legislature after his defeat at the 1977 General Election.

JHU Leader Ven Ellawala Medhananda Thera, former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka, UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayanth, Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa and the family members of D.M. Jayaratne were present.