Global InformationMaithripala Sirisena information
Maithripala Sirisena MP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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මෛත්රීපාල සිරිසේන மைத்திரிபால சிறிசேன | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Sirisena in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7th President of Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 9 January 2015 – 18 November 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister |
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| Preceded by | Mahinda Rajapaksa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Defence | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 January 2015 – 18 November 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Himself | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister |
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| Preceded by | Mahinda Rajapaksa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment[N 1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 January 2015 – 18 November 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Himself | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister |
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| Preceded by | Susil Premajayantha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 23 November 2005 – 23 April 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Mahinda Rajapaksa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Ratnasiri Wickremanayake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Pallewatte Gamaralage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena 3 September 1951 Yagoda, Dominion of Ceylon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship | Sri Lankan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Sri Lankan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Sri Lanka Freedom Party (since 1968) Communist Party of Ceylon (1966–1968) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance (2019–2022) United People's Freedom Alliance (2004–2019)[N 3] New Democratic Front (2014–2015)[N 4] People's Alliance (1994–2004) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children |
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| Alma mater | Maxim Gorky Literature Institute | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Politician | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (Sinhala: පල්ලෙවත්ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; Tamil: பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரிபால யாப்பா சிறிசேன; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh President of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019.[2][3] Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province of the country and does not belong to the traditional Sri Lankan political elite.[4] He is currently a member of parliament from Polonnaruwa.
Sirisena joined mainstream politics in 1989 as a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and has held several ministries since 1994.[5] He was the general-secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was Minister of Health until November 2014 when he announced his candidacy in the 2015 presidential election as the opposition coalition's "common candidate", thus leading to him running against party leader and incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa.[6][7] His victory in the election was generally viewed as unexpected, coming to office through the votes won from the alternative Sinhala-majority rural constituency and the Tamil and Muslim minority groups that were alienated by the Rajapaksa government on post-war reconciliation and growing sectarian violence.[4][8][9][10] Maithripala Sirisena pledged to implement a 100-day reform program where he promised to rebalance the executive branch within 100 days of being elected, by reinforcing Sri Lanka's judiciary and parliament, to fight corruption and to investigate allegations of war crimes from 2009, repeal the controversial eighteenth amendment, re-instate the seventeenth amendment and appoint UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister.[11][12][13] He later was reported to have publicly disavowed this program, claiming that he did not know where it originated.[14][15]
Sirisena was sworn in as the sixth Executive President before Supreme Court judge K. Sripavan in Independence Square, Colombo at 6:20 p.m. on 9 January 2015.[16][17] Immediately afterwards he appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new Prime Minister.[18][19] After being sworn in Sirisena stated that he would only serve one term.[20] Sirisena voluntarily transferred significant presidential powers to parliament on 28 April.[21][22]
In 2018, Sirisena appointed the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa (his former rival) as the Prime Minister, wrote a letter firing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (with whose major support he became the president in 2015) and prorogued Parliament, all in apparent contradiction to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, instigating a constitutional crisis.[23][24][25] This marks Sirisena's second and most successful attempt to bring Rajapaksa to power.[26][27]
Cite error: There are <ref group=N> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=N}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Sessions of Parliament". parliament.lk. Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ^ "Sirisena to be sworn in as Sri Lanka's new president". Gulf Times. Agence France-Presse. 9 January 2015.
- ^ Balachandran, P. K. (9 January 2015). "Sirisena Finally Romps Home With 51.28 Per Cent". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
TG090115was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "All you need to know about Maithripala Sirisena". The Hindu. 9 January 2015.
- ^ "Central & South Asia Sri Lanka minister to challenge president". Al Jazeera. 21 November 2014.
- ^ "Maithiripala Sirisena of SLFP emerges as common opposition candidate contesting Rajapaksa". TamilNet. 21 November 2014.
- ^ "Sirisena Calls for Peace After Surprise Sri Lanka Victory". Bloomberg News. 9 January 2015.
- ^ Crabtree, James (9 January 2015). "Maithripala Sirisena faces task of repairing Sri Lanka's image". Financial Times.
- ^ Burke, Jason; Perera, Amantha (10 January 2015). "Sri Lanka's new president promises 'no more abductions, no more censorship'". The Guardian.
- ^ Bastians, Dharisha (22 November 2014). "No Maithri for Mahinda". Daily FT. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014.
- ^ Mallawarachi, Bharatha (21 November 2014). "Sri Lanka leader to face health minister in polls". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- ^ Srinivasan, Meera (22 November 2014). "Chandrika returns to politics". The Hindu.
- ^ ""I have no idea who came up with the 100-day program" – President – Sri Lanka Latest News". Sri Lanka News – Newsfirst | Breaking News and Latest News provider | Political | Sports | International | Business. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ "100-day programme was the 'stupidest' thing done – President". adaderana.lk. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ "Sirisena sworn in as Sri Lanka president". Al Jazeera. 9 January 2015.
- ^ "Maithri sworn in". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 9 January 2015.
- ^ Srinivasan, Meera (9 January 2015). "Sirisena deposes Rajapaksa". The Hindu.
- ^ "Ranil new Prime Minister". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 9 January 2015.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's new president appoints PM". Special Broadcasting Service. Australian Associated Press. 10 January 2015.
- ^ Maithripala’s finest hour The Sunday Times, Retrieved 4 May 2015
- ^ The Monk and the Man who changed history Sunday Observer, Retrieved 4 May 2015
- ^ Diplomat, Tasnim Nazeer, The. "Sri Lanka's Constitutional Crisis and the Right to Press Freedom". The Diplomat. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Sri Lankan Strongman's Return Sparks 'Constitutional Crisis'". Time. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ "House of Cards in the Indian Ocean". BBC News. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ "A Nation Betrayed Looks at Maithri's Next Move". The Sunday Leader. 12 July 2015. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ "JVP claims the greatest political betrayal". DailyMirror. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.