Dayasiri Jayasekara

J.P. Dayasiri Padma Kumara Jayasekara (born 12 June 1969) is a Sri Lankan politician who is presently serving as a Member of Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and is the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). He is the District Leader of the SLFP for the Kurunegala District and Organizer for the Paduwasnuwara Electorate, which is the center of the once historic Paduwasnuwera Kingdom.

Hon.
Dayasiri Jayasekara
MP
දයාසිරි පද්මසිරි ජයසෙකර
தயாசிறி ஜெயசேகரன்
General Secretary of Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Assumed office
3 January 2019
ChairpersonMaithripala Sirisena
Preceded byRohana Lakshman Piyadasa
Minister for Sport
In office
4 September 2015 – 12 April 2018
PresidentMaithripala Sirisena
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Preceded byNavin Dissanayake
Succeeded byFaiszer Musthapha
6th Chief Minister of North Western Province
In office
3 October 2013 – 1 September 2015
Preceded byAthula Wijesinghe
Succeeded byDharmasiri Dassanayake
Member of Parliament
for Kurunegala District
Assumed office
2015
In office
2004 – 24 July 2013
Personal details
Born
J.P Dayasiri Jayasekara

(1969-06-12) 12 June 1969
Panduwasnuwara, Sri Lanka
CitizenshipSri Lankan
NationalitySinhalese
Political partySri Lanka Freedom Party
(2013–)
United National Party
(2001–2013)
SpouseJayawanthi Panibharatha
RelationsKithsiri Jayasekara (elder brother)
Channa Wijewardena (brother-in-law)
Upuli Wijewardena (sister-in-law)
ChildrenKaveen Jayasekara
Gihansi Jayasekara
ResidenceColombo
Alma materMayurapada Central College
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionLawyer
CommitteesCommittee on Public Accounts
Websitehttp://dayasirijayasekara.lk/pages/

He is a Member of Parliament from the Kurunegala District of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. Dayasiri Jayasekara is known as an advocate of progressive socio-economic policy. He was a Chief Minister of North Western Province, and a former Minister for Sport in Sri Lanka.

Personal life

Born in Paduwasnuwara, the ancient capital of the Paduwasnuwara Kingdom; (one of four Kingdoms in the Kurunegala District, the other three Kingdoms being Kurunegala, Yapahuwa and Dambadeniya) into a family of seven. His father J.P. Vinsant Jayasekara a businessman, and W.D.Siriyawathie a teacher. Dayasiri is married to Jayawanthi Panibharatha, and the couple has two children, Kaveen Jayasekara and Gihansi Jayasekara. Jayawanthi is the daughter of popular dancer Panibharatha. Jayawanthi's sister, Upuli is married to popular dancer and choreographer Channa Wijewardena.[1]

Dayasiri was educated initially at the Hettipola Primary School from 1974 to 1979. On completion of his primary education he entered Harischandra College in Negombo and in 1980 entered Mayurapada Central College in Narammala until he completed his Advanced Level examination in 1988. At Mayurapada Central College, Dayasiri excelled in number of sporting activities such as athletics and cricket. Furthermore, he ended his schooling career as the Head Prefect.

Completion of his Advanced Level paved the pathway to enter the law faculty at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka where he graduated in 1994 with the Degree in Bachelor of Laws (LLB). During his time at the University of Colombo he was an active sportsman with colors in athletics where he was placed first in discuss throwing, a classy ruggerite, winner of the inter university Kabadi team and Captain of the Law Faculty Cricket Team. Furthermore, he was active in forming a university singing band, a model and a television actor.

The law student, Dayasiri, was the founding leader of the Law Student Partnership Association in 1988. This was a decisive step during this period considering that Sri Lanka had experienced a period of absolute darkness and riots with youth unrest across the country.

On graduation he enrolled at the Colombo Law College and was sworn in as an Attorney-at-Law in 1997. Furthermore, he also completed a number of programmes in Government Financial Management in Australia and Conflict Resolution in Switzerland.

Early politics

In 1997 Dayasiri entered the mainstream of politics by contesting the local government election under the SLFP where he received the highest number of preferential votes, and entered the Paduwasnuwera Local Authority as a Local Government Member. In 1998 he was appointed as the General Secretary of the SLFP Youth Wing where he initiated the ‘Sarasamu Lanka’ programme to attract more youth to join the party. In addition to the above, Dayasiri was a Coordinating Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and International Trade from 1994 to 2000 for Prof. G.L. Peiris. In 2000 he was also appointed as the Chairman of the Mineral Sands Corporation and from 2001 to 2004 as the Chairman of Lanka Phosphate, whilst he was the Private Secretary to Prof. G.L. Peiris then Minister of Investment Promotion of Sri Lanka.

Politics

Dayasiri commenced his political journey as a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. In 2001 he joined the United National Party (UNP) and was a candidate at the General Election held the same year. In 2004, he was appointed the organiser for the Katugampola electorate and received 52,457 preference votes at the General Election. In 2005, he was appointed as the organiser for Paduvasnuwara and continued to work with the residents of his electorate to uplift their living standards. In the 2010 General Election, he received 132,600 preference votes which was the highest votes received by any candidate in the Kurunegala District.

On 24 July 2013, he resigned from the UNP and joined the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to contest the Provincial Council Elections. He broke the record of former president Chandrika Kumaratunge of most votes in provincial council election in Sri Lanka and elected as the chief Minister of the province on 21 September 2013. He is the 6th chief minister of North Western Province.

Controversy

Rift with the UNP leadership

Dayasiri was a very vocal member of the UNP that was critical of the way the party was run by its leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, who he branded as a "dictator" in 2010.[2] Along with fellow party reformist Sajith Premadasa, Dayasiri was one of the key party members of the United National Party who fought for a change in the party leadership.[3][4]

In 2012, it was widely speculated in the media that Dayasiri was about to join the government.[5][6][7] He was quick to reject these allegation as baseless and accused Ranil Wickramasinghe of pressurising him to leave the party.[8][9] As a result of his continuous criticism of the party leadership, Dayasiri was informed to be present before the party disciplinary committee.[10]

In a hard-hitting speech made in parliament on 24 July 2013, Dayasiri was critical of the UNP and its leadership and conveyed his willingness to join the government to contest the Provincial Council elections.

As a singer

His elder brother Kithsiri Jayasekara is a well known senior artist in Sri Lankan music industry. But, Dayasiri was too much concerned towards politics than singing career. He rose to prominence with reality show Mega Star telecasted on Swarnavahini in 2010. He won runner up award, but highly praised by the judges and fans.[11] His first solo song Sansare was released on 2012.

References
  1. "Unknown relatives of Sri Lankan artists". lifie. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. "EXCLUSIVE: Ranil is a dictator – Dayasiri". Adaderana.lk. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  3. "Ranil-Dayasiri rift gets escalated". News.lk. 14 August 2012. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  4. "Mr. Wickremesinghe's MOTHER OF ALL JILLMARTS". Lakbimanews.lk. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  5. "Dayasiri on UPFA platform shortly!". nation.lk. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  6. "SBS Audio and Language : Sinhalese : Highlight: Dayasiri-Jayasekara-may-crossover-to-the-government". Sbs.com.au. 5 August 2012. Archived from the original on 17 September 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  7. "Signs of Dayasiri Jayasekara joining the government today". Hirunews.lk. 10 August 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  8. "I won't crossover to the government; Dayasiri. Can't say ; Tissa. | Lanka Cyber News". Lankacnews.com. 25 July 2012. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  9. "Ranil's 'Media Mafia' eager to send me to UPFA – Dayasiri". nation.lk. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  10. "Ceylon Today | Dayasiri to appear before disciplinary committee". Ceylontoday.lk. 22 August 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  11. "Swarnavahini Mega Star 2010". nuwannet. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
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