Sri Lanka’s newly elected president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has named Harini Amarasuriya as the first female prime minister of the country after more than two decades on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.
According to BBC, Amarasuriya will be the third female prime minister in the history of Sri Lanka and the first since Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 2000. She also holds the owner to become the first academic to take the office.
Amarasuriya, along with the premiership, will hold the responsibility of a minister of justice, education, and labour.
Former Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardene resigned from his position after Dissanayake took oath as the president of Sri Lanka on Monday.
The 55-year-old said, “Our politics needs to be cleaner, and the people have called for a different political culture. I am ready to commit to that change."
Moreover, the lecturer-turned-politician Amarasuriya was born on March 6, 1970. She is a parliamentarian of the National People’s Power and the 16th prime minister of the country.
The 54-year-old social activist has done a bachelor's in Sociology and a master's in Applied Anthropology and Development Studies. She has also completed her PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh.
Amarasuriya is known for her advocacy for education, gender inequality, child protection, the development of youth, and other social issues.
