Sri Lanka: Harini Amarasuriya appointed as new PM of Island Nation

Sri Lanka's new PM is Harini Amarasuriya
Harini Amarasuriya becomes the new Sri Lankan PM. Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/ ShareAlike 4.0 International

National People’s Power (NPP) MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on Tuesday took oath as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as the executive president of the  country on Monday after he clinched a major victory in the polls.

Harini Amarasuriya was also sworn in as the  Minister of Justice, Education, Labour, Industries, Science & Technology, Health, and Investments.

Harini Amarasuriya succeeded  Dinesh Gunawardena who resigned as the PM of the South Asian country, which witnessed political and economic instability in recent years, after the unsuccessful re-election bid of Ranil Wickremesinghe in the presidential elections.

Harini Amarasuriya is now the third woman to become Sri Lanka’s PM.

Amarasuriya has been a National List Member of Parliament for National People’s Power since 2020. She was previously a senior lecturer at the Department of Social Studies of the Open University of Sri Lanka.

Amarasuriya holds a PhD degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh.

Before Amarasuriya,  Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga had served as Sri Lankan PM.